Global container shipping is operating with a structural capacity loss, as vessel delays now consistently absorb millions of TEUs that would otherwise be available to the market.
The latest analysis from Sea-Intelligence highlights that persistent vessel delays continue to materially constrain effective global container shipping capacity, with no return to pre-pandemic performance levels.
Based on March 2026 Global Liner Performance data, global schedule reliability has stabilised in a lower band of 50–65 per cent.
At the same time, average vessel delay has increased to around five days, underscoring ongoing structural inefficiencies across liner networks.
Pre-pandemic (2011–2019), vessel delays consistently absorbed around 2.2 per cent of global capacity, with minimal variation. This formed a stable baseline that was effectively embedded into global supply-demand planning.
However, Sea-Intelligence data shows that this baseline has been permanently disrupted. Since 2023, total capacity absorbed by delays has averaged 5.3 per cent, with a persistent excess of 2–4 per cent above historical norms and no sign of near-term recovery.
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Alan Murphy, CEO of Sea-Intelligence, said: “The nominal impact of this structural deterioration in schedule reliability is highly significant. At a 5.3 per cent absorption rate, the global market is continuously “missing” 1.8 million TEU of vessel capacity.
“If we isolate only the 3.1 per cent excess above the historical 2.2 per cent baseline, the industry is still losing 1.06 million TEU of active capacity. This means that a fleet the size of the world’s 8th largest carrier, HMM, has been effectively removed from the market exclusively due to the new, lower baseline of schedule reliability.”
For more information:
Sea-Intelligence – https://www.sea-intelligence.com/
