30 December 2022 (Lloyd's List) - FOR the first time this year MSC has pipped Maersk to become the most reliable carrier, according to the monthly schedule reliability statistics published by container consultancy Sea Intelligence. With schedule reliability of 63.4%, MSC was the most reliable carrier in November 2022, followed by Maersk with 61.7%. While all lines have been steadily improving their reliability scores all year, Maersk has consistently outperformed MSC each month as the most reliable line, at least until November. Maersk and MSC were the only carriers above 60% reliability last month, however, all of the top-14 carriers have recorded a month-on-month improvement in schedule reliability. The report, which covers schedule reliability across 34 different trade lanes and over 60 carriers indicates that global schedule reliability improved by 4.7% in November compared to October and reached 56.6%. The average delay for late vessel arrivals has also been improving consistently since the start of the year. In November, average delay improved once again, dropping by another -0.58 days month on month to 5.04 days. Both schedule reliability and average delay are now better than the 2020 level. Despite continued schedule disruption, Maersk has consistently topped the reliability ranking each month in 2022 while MSC has struggled to make it into the top three position. However, November’s figures suggest that the Geneva-based line has finally managed to surpass Maersk, taking the top slot with a 1.7% margin.