<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">There is a message for the West Coast in the recent string of news stories concerning the all-water </div>

There is a message for the West Coast in the recent string of news stories concerning the all-water

<div>There is a message for the West Coast in the recent string of news stories concerning the all-water route from Asia to the U.S. East Coast through the Panama Canal.The message comes from both shippers and carriers, and it's a simple one: Get your act together or we'll take our cargo elsewhere.I can hear the giggles now. Where you gonna go?People have been predicting the decline of the West Coast and particularly Southern California for years, and all that seems to happen is the opposite. Its volumes grow at even more impressive double-digit rates, its terminal space expands at 400-acre...

There is a message for the West Coast in the recent string of news stories concerning the all-water route from Asia to the U.S. East Coast through the Panama Canal. The message comes from both shippers and carriers, and it's a simple one: Get your act together or we'll take our cargo elsewhere.I can hear the giggles now. Where you gonna go? People have been predicting the decline of the West Coast and particularly Southern California for years, and all that seems to happen is the opposite. Its volumes grow at even more impressive double-digit rates, its terminal space expands at 400-acre clips and its employers can barely hire enough longshoremen and truck drivers to keep pace. Yes, the ports there experience their share of problems, such as congestion, high costs and labor shortages. But no other viable transportation route exists to handle the staggering volumes of imports arriving each year from Asia. But that may be changing. There won't be any major shift in cargo this year, or even next. But some whose job it is to take the long view about the West Coast are justifiably concerned. The announcements in the last few weeks are not monumental in the greater scheme of things, but they reveal how shippers and carriers feel these days when it comes using West Coast ports. Two groups of major international container lines this month are launching all-water services from Asia to the East Coast that go through the Panama Canal. They're intentionally bypassing the West Coast to get cargo to markets on the Eastern seaboard. One is the consortium of Yang Ming Line, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (''K'' Line) and China Ocean Shipping Co. The other includes China Shipping Group, CMA-CGM and P&O Nedlloyd. Evergreen Marine Corp., the world's second-largest container line behind Maersk Sealand, is reportedly considering an all-water route. Why? Listen to some shippers and carriers involved in the Asia-U.S. trade, and practically every reason they give is ''to avoid the West Coast.'' It doesn't matter that the Panama route is several days slower than moving goods through the West Coast and east by rail or truck. They're sick and tired of missing trains because of terminal congestion. They fear strikes or slowdowns by the volatile International Longshore and Warehouse Union. They resent how ILWU members earn more than $100,000 per year yet won't show up to work on time because of their devotion to a paper and pencil dispatch system. They see the West Coast and particularly Southern California as getting more costly and unpredictable, and nothing would make them happier to have a viable alternative. The slower transit times through the Panama Canal are a small price to pay for reliable service. One factor protecting the West Coast, ironically, has been the Panama Canal itself. The generation of line-haul container ships being built today is too large to fit through the canal. Carriers are forced to send smaller ships through the canal, which restricts the capacity available to shippers wanting to move goods via this route. Panama understands this well. It believes that for the canal to remain viable in a 21st century dominated by container shipping, it must be able to accommodate the largest ships afloat. It's considering building a third set of locks at a cost of $6 billion to $10 billion. The result could be an equatorial east-west container shipping system that marginalizes the West Coast the way the Panama Canal is marginalized today. It's not too late for the West Coast to get its act together, many believe. It must segue, for example, into a true 24-hour operation encompassing terminals, truckers, railroads and warehouses. Most importantly, terminal operators and the ILWU must bring the terminal system into the 21st century. When a major retailer sends its own truck to the terminal and has to wait four hours to pick up a container, something's seriously wrong. The Pacific Maritime Association, led by Joe Miniace, is trying to do something about that. At the annual ''Town Hall'' meeting Thursday night meant to promote dialogue among the union, employers and other stakeholders, Miniace proposed that a major new technology agreement be negotiated. His proposed ''Technology Learning and Computerization Contract'' is based on the idea that technology and the Internet are as fundamental a change for this industry as containerization was in the 1960s. Therefore, the industry needs an agreement as sweeping as the Mechanization and Modernization agreement of 1960. Miniace says if the West Coast doesn't move quickly, the long-term impact could be catastrophic. ''There are people out there talking about spending $6 billion to $10 billion to widen the Panama Canal,'' he said in an interview before the meeting. He said he intended to ask the attendees: ''What does that mean when they want to spend that amount of money to skip you? ''You have to solve the West Coast problems to ward off this development,'' he said. ''If you start to solve the problem after the financial commitment has been made, you're in deep trouble.'' While the West Coast simmers, the East Coast is celebrating small but telling gains. Lillian Borrone, the New York/New Jersey port director, noted that East Coast ports' share of containerized trade with Asia grew from 18.9 percent in 1998 to 19.6 percent last year. ''As trade between New York/New Jersey and Asia continues to strengthen, we expect to see more ocean carriers sail the all-water routes to New York, using both the Panama and Suez canals,'' she said.

AN UNMISTAKABLE MESSAGE TO WEST COAST PORTS

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Equipped with 12 quay cranes capable of handling ultra-large container ships, the expansion allows the East Container Terminal to handle 3 million TEUs annually at full speed. </div>

Equipped with 12 quay cranes capable of handling ultra-large container ships, the expansion allows the East Container Terminal to handle 3 million TEUs annually at full speed.

Feature image

<div class="phx-topic">Sri Lanka is moving swiftly to fend off the threat of <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/carriers-revalue-colombo-transshipment-calls-amid-congestion-indian-hub-push-5192152">alternative hub development efforts by India</a> as ocean carriers increasingly seek berthing window flexibility for transshipment calls in a volatile operating environment. The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA)-operated East Container Terminal (ECT) in Colombo Port has opened a third berth to business, extending its total quay length to 1,300 meters. Equipped with 12 quay cranes capable of handling ultra-large container ships, the expansion allows ECT to handle 3 million TEUs annually at full speed. SLPA in a statement said the upgrades strengthen Colombo’s position as a primary transshipment hub for services linking the Indian subcontinent, the Bay of Bengal and major East–West trade lanes. “The addition of the third berth is expected to ease congestion, distribute vessel calls more efficiently across terminals and reinforce Colombo’s reputation for dependable, high-volume container handling,” SLPA said. The port authority projects a quick three-fold increase in container volumes through the expanded terminal, from 500,000 TEUs in 2025 to 1.5 million TEUs by the end of this year. That capacity expansion complements the recent launch of Phase I operations by the Colombo West Container Terminal (CWCT), a project led by India’s Adani Group. With multiple ongoing expansions, including Phase 2 development at CWCT that has a late-2026 completion timeline, Colombo’s combined capacity is estimated to reach 12 million TEUs over the next year. The port handled 8.3 million TEUs in 2025, up 6% year over year, industry data shows. <h3>Transshipment competition from India </h3>Transshipment trade out of the subcontinent region is no longer a given for Colombo after India opened the Vizhinjam terminal, also managed by Adani, a year ago. Thanks to cargo relay activity by Mediterranean Shipping Co., Vizhinjam's Phase 1 capacity of 1 million TEUs is already saturated, with 2025 volumes hitting 1.2 million TEUs — making it the fastest-growing port in India by capacity utilization. Stronger-than-expected demand has prompted Vizhinjam to fast-track the implementation of projects deemed necessary for longer-term market ambitions. The new hub now aims to put 5.7 million TEUs of capacity in operation by 2028/29, some 17 years ahead of the original development schedule. Contact Bency Mathew at <a href="mailto:bencyvmathew@gmail.com">bencyvmathew@gmail.com</a>. </div>

Sri Lanka is moving swiftly to fend off the threat of alternative hub development efforts by India as ocean carriers increasingly seek berthing window flexibility for transshipment calls in a volatile operating environment. The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA)-operated East Container Terminal (ECT) in Colombo Port has opened a third berth to business, extending its total quay length to 1,300 meters. Equipped with 12 quay cranes capable of handling ultra-large container ships, the expansion allows ECT to handle 3 million TEUs annually at full speed. SLPA in a statement said the upgrades strengthen Colombo’s position as a primary transshipment hub for services linking the Indian subcontinent, the Bay of Bengal and major East–West trade lanes. “The addition of the third berth is expected to ease congestion, distribute vessel calls more efficiently across terminals and reinforce Colombo’s reputation for dependable, high-volume container handling,” SLPA said. The port authority projects a quick three-fold increase in container volumes through the expanded terminal, from 500,000 TEUs in 2025 to 1.5 million TEUs by the end of this year. That capacity expansion complements the recent launch of Phase I operations by the Colombo West Container Terminal (CWCT), a project led by India’s Adani Group. With multiple ongoing expansions, including Phase 2 development at CWCT that has a late-2026 completion timeline, Colombo’s combined capacity is estimated to reach 12 million TEUs over the next year. The port handled 8.3 million TEUs in 2025, up 6% year over year, industry data shows. Transshipment competition from India Transshipment trade out of the subcontinent region is no longer a given for Colombo after India opened the Vizhinjam terminal, also managed by Adani, a year ago. Thanks to cargo relay activity by Mediterranean Shipping Co., Vizhinjam's Phase 1 capacity of 1 million TEUs is already saturated, with 2025 volumes hitting 1.2 million TEUs — making it the fastest-growing port in India by capacity utilization. Stronger-than-expected demand has prompted Vizhinjam to fast-track the implementation of projects deemed necessary for longer-term market ambitions. The new hub now aims to put 5.7 million TEUs of capacity in operation by 2028/29, some 17 years ahead of the original development schedule. Contact Bency Mathew at bencyvmathew@gmail.com .

Port News

Port infrastructure

Marine terminals

International ports

Maritime

Colombo expands box capacity as regional hub competition intensifies 

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The 2025 result follows a familiar trend seen across the full-year financials reported so far by Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd and Ocean Network Express as the industry moves into an overcapacity-driven downcycle. </div>

The 2025 result follows a familiar trend seen across the full-year financials reported so far by Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd and Ocean Network Express as the industry moves into an overcapacity-driven downcycle.

<div class="phx-topic">The sharply correcting container shipping market pulled down HMM’s 2025 earnings as a drop in average rates across its network offset an increase in volume, the South Korean carrier said Wednesday. It is a familiar trend seen across the full-year 2025 results reported so far by <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/gemini-benefits-face-looming-challenge-from-oversupplied-market-maersk-ceo-6164887">Maersk</a>, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/fourth-quarter-rate-slump-drags-down-hapag-lloyds-2025-financials-6166755">Hapag-Lloyd</a> and <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/frontloading-drags-one-to-a-loss-in-its-fiscal-third-quarter-6161263">Ocean Network Express</a> as the carriers move into an overcapacity-driven downcycle. “A large volume of new container vessel deliveries is expected to result in oversupply, while demand growth remains weak, likely to exacerbate supply-demand imbalances,” HMM said in its results statement. The carrier’s total volume in 2025 reached 3.9 million TEUs, up 3.2% year over year. But the higher throughput was undermined by average revenue per TEU that fell 24.3% to $1,214. The declining rates saw HMM’s total revenue for the year sliding 6.9% to $7.5 billion, while operating profit dropped 58.4% to $220 million and net profit slid 50.3% to $1.3 billion. Although HMM’s fourth-quarter performance was a slight improvement on the third quarter, the weakening market saw key metrics decline significantly year over year. Fourth-quarter revenue of $1.86 billion was a drop of 14.2% year over year, operating profit fell 68.3% to $220 million and net profit of $250 million was down 59.5% compared with the fourth quarter of 2024. Excess capacity in the market will continue to exert downward pressure on rate levels. The global container shipping order book sits near 10.7 million TEUs, or 32% of the current in-service fleet, according to Sea-web, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. Just over 1 million TEUs of capacity via ships above 10,000 TEUs is scheduled to be delivered this year. But 2.3 million TEUs are due for delivery in 2027, with another 3.4 million TEUs due to come online in 2028, equal to all the tonnage received in 2022 and 2023. Despite the growing supply-demand imbalance, analysts expect global container shipping volume growth of 2% to 4% in 2026. Maritime consultant Drewry has even raised the collective financial outlook for carriers this year from a $10 billion loss to a $1 billion profit. <h3>Hub-and-spoke network expansion </h3>In its outlook for the year, HMM announced plans to expand its hub-and-spoke network. Last October, the carrier <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/hmm-inks-25-billion-lng-container-ship-order-6098410">said it would spend $8 billion on eco-friendly vessels</a> by 2030 to boost its operational fleet to 130 container ships totaling 1.55 million TEUs. The investment is part of a $17 billion spending plan that also includes $3 billion on its logistics business with the acquisition of new container terminals and expanding existing facilities by 2030. HMM is part of the Premier Alliance with ONE and Yang Ming that operates or calls at terminals in the hubs of Felixstowe, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Le Havre, Algeciras and Singapore on the Asia-Europe trade; Piraeus, Istanbul, Damietta and Jeddah in the Mediterranean; and Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Kaohsiung, Ningbo, Shanghai, Pusan and Yantian on the trans-Pacific. HMM also said Wednesday it plans to strengthen low-emission services in a bid to increase market share and “improve cost structures through optimized feeder operations.” An area the Premier Alliance carriers will need to significantly improve on is schedule reliability, which was at 26% last year, according to <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/gemini-schedule-reliability-shows-sum-greater-than-its-parts-xeneta-6167423">Xeneta’s “Schedule Reliability Scorecard” for 2025</a>. Partners ONE and Yang Ming both saw individual on-time performance hit close to that mark, but HMM was only at a 15% on-time rate. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The sharply correcting container shipping market pulled down HMM’s 2025 earnings as a drop in average rates across its network offset an increase in volume, the South Korean carrier said Wednesday. It is a familiar trend seen across the full-year 2025 results reported so far by Maersk , Hapag-Lloyd and Ocean Network Express as the carriers move into an overcapacity-driven downcycle. “A large volume of new container vessel deliveries is expected to result in oversupply, while demand growth remains weak, likely to exacerbate supply-demand imbalances,” HMM said in its results statement. The carrier’s total volume in 2025 reached 3.9 million TEUs, up 3.2% year over year. But the higher throughput was undermined by average revenue per TEU that fell 24.3% to $1,214. The declining rates saw HMM’s total revenue for the year sliding 6.9% to $7.5 billion, while operating profit dropped 58.4% to $220 million and net profit slid 50.3% to $1.3 billion. Although HMM’s fourth-quarter performance was a slight improvement on the third quarter, the weakening market saw key metrics decline significantly year over year. Fourth-quarter revenue of $1.86 billion was a drop of 14.2% year over year, operating profit fell 68.3% to $220 million and net profit of $250 million was down 59.5% compared with the fourth quarter of 2024. Excess capacity in the market will continue to exert downward pressure on rate levels. The global container shipping order book sits near 10.7 million TEUs, or 32% of the current in-service fleet, according to Sea-web, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Just over 1 million TEUs of capacity via ships above 10,000 TEUs is scheduled to be delivered this year. But 2.3 million TEUs are due for delivery in 2027, with another 3.4 million TEUs due to come online in 2028, equal to all the tonnage received in 2022 and 2023. Despite the growing supply-demand imbalance, analysts expect global container shipping volume growth of 2% to 4% in 2026. Maritime consultant Drewry has even raised the collective financial outlook for carriers this year from a $10 billion loss to a $1 billion profit. Hub-and-spoke network expansion In its outlook for the year, HMM announced plans to expand its hub-and-spoke network. Last October, the carrier said it would spend $8 billion on eco-friendly vessels by 2030 to boost its operational fleet to 130 container ships totaling 1.55 million TEUs. The investment is part of a $17 billion spending plan that also includes $3 billion on its logistics business with the acquisition of new container terminals and expanding existing facilities by 2030. HMM is part of the Premier Alliance with ONE and Yang Ming that operates or calls at terminals in the hubs of Felixstowe, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Le Havre, Algeciras and Singapore on the Asia-Europe trade; Piraeus, Istanbul, Damietta and Jeddah in the Mediterranean; and Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Kaohsiung, Ningbo, Shanghai, Pusan and Yantian on the trans-Pacific. HMM also said Wednesday it plans to strengthen low-emission services in a bid to increase market share and “improve cost structures through optimized feeder operations.” An area the Premier Alliance carriers will need to significantly improve on is schedule reliability, which was at 26% last year, according to Xeneta’s “Schedule Reliability Scorecard” for 2025 . Partners ONE and Yang Ming both saw individual on-time performance hit close to that mark, but HMM was only at a 15% on-time rate. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Container lines

Container Shipping News

HMM profitability falls as carrier warns of growing supply-demand imbalance

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Kevin Price, president of the port’s stevedoring services company Gateway Terminals, will join GPA in July as president and then add the CEO’s role in mid-2027.</div>

Kevin Price, president of the port’s stevedoring services company Gateway Terminals, will join GPA in July as president and then add the CEO’s role in mid-2027.

<div class="phx-topic">The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) on Tuesday unveiled an 18-month succession plan that will see long-time CEO Griff Lynch step down in mid-2027 and replaced by a marine terminals veteran who will initially come aboard as GPA’s president this summer.Kevin Price, president of the Port of Savannah’s stevedoring services company Gateway Terminals, will join GPA in July as president and then add the CEO’s role in mid-2027, GPA said in a statement. Price will lead Savannah as it plans its next growth phase with the opening of a new container terminal in the next decade.“Georgia Ports’ long-term approach with its employees, customers, business partners and infrastructure investments are competitive differentiators,” Price said in the statement. Price has served as president of Gateway Terminals since 2022. Prior to that, he spent four years at stevedore Virginia International Terminals, where he rose to chief operating officer. His prior experience includes time at the former Global Container Terminals facility in New Jersey, and with Maersk and APM Terminals in their Northeast operations. Under Lynch, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/lynch-to-succeed-foltz-as-georgia-ports-chief-5212877">who became chief executive of the port in 2016</a>, Savannah saw total container volumes handled go from 3.6 million TEUs to 5.7 million TEUs in 2025, a 4.5% annual average rate. During that time, the Port of Savannah <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/savannah-expands-with-2030-goal-of-9-million-teu-5222906">dredged its harbor to 47 feet</a> and modernized <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/savannah-project-reflects-growing-premium-for-us-berth-space-5243335">the Garden City Terminal, allowing it to handle three post-Panamax ships at once</a>. The GPA likewise built up rail capacity at Savannah with upgrades to <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/us-se-ports-prepping-more-growth-amid-continued-west-coast-diversions_20230306.html">the Mason Mega rail terminal that allowed it to handle 1 million container lifts annually</a>, and the <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/us-southeast-ports-expand-intermodal-rail-reach-5245618">completion of the Appalachian Regional Port in 2018</a> and expected completion this year of <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ns-to-eliminate-midwest-service-from-charleston-savannah-due-to-low-volumes-5200097">the Blue Ridge Connector inland port</a>. Along with finishing the Blue Ridge Connector, the GPA’s near-term plans include opening two new container berths at its Ocean Terminal by 2027. The GPA is also working with the state to increase the air clearance for ships on the Savannah River by raising the Talmadge Bridge. The GPA said in its most recent annual report that it expects container volume to increase just over 45% through 2035. That equates to a 3.7% average annual growth rate that would put Savannah’s volumes at 8.3 million TEUs over the next decade. To handle that growth, the GPA is looking to secure a permit for the construction of the Savannah Container Terminal on Tybee Island at the mouth of the Savannah River. The terminal, which would have berths for three large vessels, is targeted for completion in 2032 at a cost of approximately $4.5 billion. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto: michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) on Tuesday unveiled an 18-month succession plan that will see long-time CEO Griff Lynch step down in mid-2027 and replaced by a marine terminals veteran who will initially come aboard as GPA’s president this summer. Kevin Price, president of the Port of Savannah’s stevedoring services company Gateway Terminals, will join GPA in July as president and then add the CEO’s role in mid-2027, GPA said in a statement. Price will lead Savannah as it plans its next growth phase with the opening of a new container terminal in the next decade. “Georgia Ports’ long-term approach with its employees, customers, business partners and infrastructure investments are competitive differentiators,” Price said in the statement. Price has served as president of Gateway Terminals since 2022. Prior to that, he spent four years at stevedore Virginia International Terminals, where he rose to chief operating officer. His prior experience includes time at the former Global Container Terminals facility in New Jersey, and with Maersk and APM Terminals in their Northeast operations. Under Lynch, who became chief executive of the port in 2016 , Savannah saw total container volumes handled go from 3.6 million TEUs to 5.7 million TEUs in 2025, a 4.5% annual average rate. During that time, the Port of Savannah dredged its harbor to 47 feet and modernized the Garden City Terminal, allowing it to handle three post-Panamax ships at once . The GPA likewise built up rail capacity at Savannah with upgrades to the Mason Mega rail terminal that allowed it to handle 1 million container lifts annually , and the completion of the Appalachian Regional Port in 2018 and expected completion this year of the Blue Ridge Connector inland port . Along with finishing the Blue Ridge Connector, the GPA’s near-term plans include opening two new container berths at its Ocean Terminal by 2027. The GPA is also working with the state to increase the air clearance for ships on the Savannah River by raising the Talmadge Bridge. The GPA said in its most recent annual report that it expects container volume to increase just over 45% through 2035. That equates to a 3.7% average annual growth rate that would put Savannah’s volumes at 8.3 million TEUs over the next decade. To handle that growth, the GPA is looking to secure a permit for the construction of the Savannah Container Terminal on Tybee Island at the mouth of the Savannah River. The terminal, which would have berths for three large vessels, is targeted for completion in 2032 at a cost of approximately $4.5 billion. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

North American ports

GPA names next CEO as Savannah readies for new growth phase

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Xeneta’s “Schedule Reliability Scorecard” for 2025 showed Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd are more reliable under Gemini than in standalone services, while other alliances showed uneven performance among partners. </div>

Xeneta’s “Schedule Reliability Scorecard” for 2025 showed Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd are more reliable under Gemini than in standalone services, while other alliances showed uneven performance among partners.

<div class="phx-topic">Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd broke further away from other ocean carriers in on-time performance in 2025, although vessels under their new Gemini Cooperation alliance showed better reliability than their standalone services, data from Xeneta shows. Most other carriers saw performance remaining flat last year, with reliability varying among other alliances. Xeneta’s “Schedule Reliability Scorecard” for 2025 showed that Maersk saw 56% of all its ships arrive on time last year, with an average delay of two days. That is up from the 37% on-time performance and average two-and-half day delay reported at the end of 2024 by eeSea, which Xeneta acquired last August. Meanwhile, second-place Hapag-Lloyd also saw improvement in its 2025 overall reliability, Xeneta data showed, with 52% of all vessels arriving on time and an average delay of three days. At the end of 2024, Hapag-Lloyd saw only about a fifth of its ships arriving on time with an average delay of close to five days. The gain for each carrier stems from the jointly-operated services under the Gemini partnership, with vessels in the alliance hitting 81% schedule reliability. But Xeneta said the performance data shows “the reliability of their non-alliance partnerships generally falls short of Gemini’s optimized structure.”The average delay days for Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd are the lowest among the 12 global ocean carriers in Xeneta’s benchmark. Among that group, delays averaged about four-and-half days. Cosco Shipping and Wan Hai Lines saw average delays of just under three-and-half days, while HMM saw an average eight-and-half-day delay, the highest among the dozen carriers on Xeneta’s list. <h3>Alliance partners show mixed results</h3>Container alliances other than Gemini saw their overall performance in 2025 remain largely flat, Xeneta’s data showed. Individual ocean carrier performance within those alliances varied, which Xeneta said highlighted the need for shippers to know who is operating a particular service. Xeneta said Ocean Alliance had an overall on-time performance of 26% in 2025, which is a step up from the 20% reported for the alliance in 2024. The gain stems largely from improvements at CMA CGM, which saw on-time performance reach 33% in 2025 versus 27% in 2024, and Cosco Shipping, which reached 35% in 2025 compared with a 24% rate the year prior. Those gains appeared to offset performance from Ocean Alliance partner Evergreen Marine, which lagged with a 25% on-time performance last year. “This is valuable evidence for shippers to consider selecting CMA CGM or COSCO on their non-alliance offerings, or to potentially lean into Ocean Alliance services where they function as the primary vessel providers instead of [Evergreen],” Xeneta said.A similar dynamic played out with the Premier Alliance, which had an overall on-time performance of 26% last year. Partners Ocean Network Express and Yang Ming both saw individual on-time performance hit close to that mark, but HMM was only at a 15% on-time rate, according to Xeneta.Mediterranean Shipping Co. saw its on-time performance hit 25% last year with a nearly five-day average delay, “just a pace above the bottom of our rankings” Xeneta said. Zim Integrated Shipping Services, which has container space-sharing agreements with MSC on several lanes, saw last year’s on-time performance improve to 36%, up from 27% in 2024 and placing it in the top three for 2025. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto: michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd broke further away from other ocean carriers in on-time performance in 2025, although vessels under their new Gemini Cooperation alliance showed better reliability than their standalone services, data from Xeneta shows. Most other carriers saw performance remaining flat last year, with reliability varying among other alliances. Xeneta’s “Schedule Reliability Scorecard” for 2025 showed that Maersk saw 56% of all its ships arrive on time last year, with an average delay of two days. That is up from the 37% on-time performance and average two-and-half day delay reported at the end of 2024 by eeSea, which Xeneta acquired last August. Meanwhile, second-place Hapag-Lloyd also saw improvement in its 2025 overall reliability, Xeneta data showed, with 52% of all vessels arriving on time and an average delay of three days. At the end of 2024, Hapag-Lloyd saw only about a fifth of its ships arriving on time with an average delay of close to five days. The gain for each carrier stems from the jointly-operated services under the Gemini partnership, with vessels in the alliance hitting 81% schedule reliability. But Xeneta said the performance data shows “the reliability of their non-alliance partnerships generally falls short of Gemini’s optimized structure.” The average delay days for Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd are the lowest among the 12 global ocean carriers in Xeneta’s benchmark. Among that group, delays averaged about four-and-half days. Cosco Shipping and Wan Hai Lines saw average delays of just under three-and-half days, while HMM saw an average eight-and-half-day delay, the highest among the dozen carriers on Xeneta’s list. Alliance partners show mixed results Container alliances other than Gemini saw their overall performance in 2025 remain largely flat, Xeneta’s data showed. Individual ocean carrier performance within those alliances varied, which Xeneta said highlighted the need for shippers to know who is operating a particular service. Xeneta said Ocean Alliance had an overall on-time performance of 26% in 2025, which is a step up from the 20% reported for the alliance in 2024. The gain stems largely from improvements at CMA CGM, which saw on-time performance reach 33% in 2025 versus 27% in 2024, and Cosco Shipping, which reached 35% in 2025 compared with a 24% rate the year prior. Those gains appeared to offset performance from Ocean Alliance partner Evergreen Marine, which lagged with a 25% on-time performance last year. “This is valuable evidence for shippers to consider selecting CMA CGM or COSCO on their non-alliance offerings, or to potentially lean into Ocean Alliance services where they function as the primary vessel providers instead of [Evergreen],” Xeneta said. A similar dynamic played out with the Premier Alliance, which had an overall on-time performance of 26% last year. Partners Ocean Network Express and Yang Ming both saw individual on-time performance hit close to that mark, but HMM was only at a 15% on-time rate, according to Xeneta. Mediterranean Shipping Co. saw its on-time performance hit 25% last year with a nearly five-day average delay, “just a pace above the bottom of our rankings” Xeneta said. Zim Integrated Shipping Services, which has container space-sharing agreements with MSC on several lanes, saw last year’s on-time performance improve to 36%, up from 27% in 2024 and placing it in the top three for 2025. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

Asia-Europe

Trans-Pacific

Gemini schedule reliability shows sum greater than its parts: Xeneta  

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Overall, more than 90% of respondents participating in the latest Journal of Commerce Intermodal Service Scorecard were satisfied with domestic intermodal service between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2025. </div>

Overall, more than 90% of respondents participating in the latest Journal of Commerce Intermodal Service Scorecard were satisfied with domestic intermodal service between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2025.

<div class="phx-topic">Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and J.B. Hunt Transport Services were voted the top railroad and domestic intermodal provider, respectively, for the second half of 2025, according to the latest Journal of Commerce <a href="https://www.joc.com/resources/special-reports/domestic-intermodal-service-scorecard">Intermodal Service Scorecard</a> released Tuesday. Overall, more than 90% of respondents were satisfied with domestic intermodal service between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2025, according to the survey of more than 145 shippers and asset-based and non-asset-based intermodal marketing companies (IMCs). The ISS is published twice a year. Railroads saw the biggest improvement, with 91.3% of respondents satisfied with performance during last year’s peak season, up from 77.5% during the same period of 2024. Intermodal providers overall, whether asset- or non-asset-based, also received higher scores. Just under 94% of shippers were satisfied with IMC performance, up from 90.9% during the peak season of 2024. The survey included 100 respondents who were shippers. “In the last six months our volume has been slipping, but Hunt has always provided sufficient equipment,” one shipper wrote in the survey. “They have gone so far as offering to reduce accessorial charges when we run into problems receiving loads at destination, which is a sign that they value our business.” <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="3f877148-7417-4744-b3a5-e66d957f4430"></dynamic-object></div>J.B. Hunt received 55.9% when shippers were asked to name the best IMC in the second half of 2025. Asset-light and non-asset IMCs came in second with 29% of the vote. That category encompasses asset-light providers such as Alliance Shippers and C.H. Robinson Worldwide, who own some containers, and pure non-asset IMCs such as Mode Transportation and Uber Freight, among many others. Shippers were asked to grade their IMC partners on a five-point scale, with five being the highest. J.B. Hunt received at least 4 out of 5 points in all categories except for pricing, while the asset-light and non-asset IMCs received at least 4 out of 5 in all categories except technology. J.B. Hunt received an overall grade of 4.6 out of 5, while the asset-light and non-asset IMCs received a score of 4.5. “It’s pretty rare when you can pick up the phone and be able to speak with the president of any company, but this is commonplace with InTek Freight and Logistics,” another shipper wrote. “We value long-term relationships with our vendors, and with InTek, it goes beyond a partnership; we feel like they are an extension of our transportation department.” Schneider received the second-best overall score among large asset-owning intermodal providers at 3.7 out of 5; the category consists of providers with more than 10,000 privately-owned containers. <h3>UP wins again for best railroad </h3>Union Pacific edged out rival BNSF Railway for the top railroad for the second consecutive survey, although the two railroads traded first and second place in all the key performance indicators (KPIs). When choosing among all the Class I railroads, 36.3% of IMCs rated UP as the best railroad, while BNSF received 20.5% of the vote. However, when the KPIs are included, the results show that the two railroads are virtually tied with one another atop the list of all railroads, outperforming the two eastern US railroads and two Canadian railroads. It’s the second consecutive survey where UP has outpaced most of its competitors, a stark change from only three years ago under former CEO Lance Fritz, who handed the reins over to current CEO Jim Vena in August 2023. In the last pre-Vena survey, only 17.1% of IMCs were satisfied with UP’s performance. In the latest survey, 80% were satisfied, up from 53.7% during the same period of 2024. UP received an overall score of 4 out of 5 points in the latest survey. BNSF received a 4.1 out of 5, although the difference was less than a tenth of a point. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="6d0852c5-f4fb-408d-8368-5b064b1cbb8b"></dynamic-object></div>Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) struggled for the second consecutive survey, receiving an overall score of 2.7 out of 5 points, while 58.9% of respondents voted it the lowest-performing railroad. While IMCs generally praised CPKC on the high quality of its Mexico Midwest Express service between Mexico and Chicago, most respondents said the railroad struggled on other routes. Common complaints included the railroad providing good customer service for top partners such as Schneider in the US and Consolidated Fastfrate in Canada, but not paying enough attention to other IMCs. “CPKC is not customer-focused. Our marketing contact cannot help us with service issues,” one IMC wrote in the survey. “Working with the CPKC is very frustrating trying to get things done.” Contact Ari Ashe at <a href="mailto:ari.ashe@spglobal.com">ari.ashe@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and J.B. Hunt Transport Services were voted the top railroad and domestic intermodal provider, respectively, for the second half of 2025, according to the latest Journal of Commerce Intermodal Service Scorecard released Tuesday. Overall, more than 90% of respondents were satisfied with domestic intermodal service between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2025, according to the survey of more than 145 shippers and asset-based and non-asset-based intermodal marketing companies (IMCs). The ISS is published twice a year. Railroads saw the biggest improvement, with 91.3% of respondents satisfied with performance during last year’s peak season, up from 77.5% during the same period of 2024. Intermodal providers overall, whether asset- or non-asset-based, also received higher scores. Just under 94% of shippers were satisfied with IMC performance, up from 90.9% during the peak season of 2024. The survey included 100 respondents who were shippers. “In the last six months our volume has been slipping, but Hunt has always provided sufficient equipment,” one shipper wrote in the survey. “They have gone so far as offering to reduce accessorial charges when we run into problems receiving loads at destination, which is a sign that they value our business.” J.B. Hunt received 55.9% when shippers were asked to name the best IMC in the second half of 2025. Asset-light and non-asset IMCs came in second with 29% of the vote. That category encompasses asset-light providers such as Alliance Shippers and C.H. Robinson Worldwide, who own some containers, and pure non-asset IMCs such as Mode Transportation and Uber Freight, among many others. Shippers were asked to grade their IMC partners on a five-point scale, with five being the highest. J.B. Hunt received at least 4 out of 5 points in all categories except for pricing, while the asset-light and non-asset IMCs received at least 4 out of 5 in all categories except technology. J.B. Hunt received an overall grade of 4.6 out of 5, while the asset-light and non-asset IMCs received a score of 4.5. “It’s pretty rare when you can pick up the phone and be able to speak with the president of any company, but this is commonplace with InTek Freight and Logistics,” another shipper wrote. “We value long-term relationships with our vendors, and with InTek, it goes beyond a partnership; we feel like they are an extension of our transportation department.” Schneider received the second-best overall score among large asset-owning intermodal providers at 3.7 out of 5; the category consists of providers with more than 10,000 privately-owned containers. UP wins again for best railroad Union Pacific edged out rival BNSF Railway for the top railroad for the second consecutive survey, although the two railroads traded first and second place in all the key performance indicators (KPIs). When choosing among all the Class I railroads, 36.3% of IMCs rated UP as the best railroad, while BNSF received 20.5% of the vote. However, when the KPIs are included, the results show that the two railroads are virtually tied with one another atop the list of all railroads, outperforming the two eastern US railroads and two Canadian railroads. It’s the second consecutive survey where UP has outpaced most of its competitors, a stark change from only three years ago under former CEO Lance Fritz, who handed the reins over to current CEO Jim Vena in August 2023. In the last pre-Vena survey, only 17.1% of IMCs were satisfied with UP’s performance. In the latest survey, 80% were satisfied, up from 53.7% during the same period of 2024. UP received an overall score of 4 out of 5 points in the latest survey. BNSF received a 4.1 out of 5, although the difference was less than a tenth of a point. Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) struggled for the second consecutive survey, receiving an overall score of 2.7 out of 5 points, while 58.9% of respondents voted it the lowest-performing railroad. While IMCs generally praised CPKC on the high quality of its Mexico Midwest Express service between Mexico and Chicago, most respondents said the railroad struggled on other routes. Common complaints included the railroad providing good customer service for top partners such as Schneider in the US and Consolidated Fastfrate in Canada, but not paying enough attention to other IMCs. “CPKC is not customer-focused. Our marketing contact cannot help us with service issues,” one IMC wrote in the survey. “Working with the CPKC is very frustrating trying to get things done.” Contact Ari Ashe at ari.ashe@spglobal.com .

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