US-Bound Container Shipments Face Longer Delays as Trans-Pacific Rates Climb
Global container shipping reliability continued to deteriorate in September, leaving shippers facing longer transit disruptions and higher costs on major east-west trade lanes. According to Xeneta’s September Schedule Reliability Scorecard, the share of vessels arriving on time fell by two percentage points to just 27%, marking the fourth consecutive monthly decline.
Average vessel delays across all arrivals reached six days, an increase of 2.4 days since the beginning of the second quarter. Xeneta attributed the worsening performance to a combination of powerful typhoons that affected Asia from July through early September, rising bunker costs and strong peak-season demand. With disruption continuing across Asian trade routes, the analyst does not expect conditions to establish a clear floor in October.
Asia-Europe and Trans-Pacific Routes Under Growing Pressure
The Far East-to-Europe trade recorded one of the sharpest deteriorations, with on-time arrivals collapsing to 4% and average delays reaching 9.9 days. This was the route’s worst monthly performance since September 2021, when reliability fell to 3% during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Services linking Asia with North America also remained unreliable. On-time performance held at 20%, but average delays increased by 0.8 days month over month to 6.9 days. Xeneta warned that congestion at Chinese ports is increasingly affecting vessel arrival schedules at berths in both Europe and North America.
Freight rates have added another layer of pressure for cargo owners moving goods across the Pacific. In early October, Xeneta’s average spot rate from China to the US West Coast reached $7,717 per forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU). That was more than four times the $1,778 recorded in September 2025 and 8% higher than at the beginning of September 2026.
Long-term contract rates also moved sharply higher. On October 1, they stood at $3,649 per FEU, representing a 26% increase from the previous month.
Carriers Record Their Worst Delays in a Year
September brought a new low in operational performance across the carriers monitored by Xeneta. Every carrier recorded its highest average vessel delay in the preceding 12 months.
Four operators also registered their lowest on-time arrival rates over the same period. CMA CGM fell to 30%, Cosco to 18%, Hapag-Lloyd to 45% and Yang Ming to just 4%.
The gap between the best- and worst-performing carriers narrowed slightly, from 45 percentage points in August to 43 points in September. Maersk, traded over the counter under the ticker AMKBY, remained the most reliable operator for the month, although its on-time performance slipped from 51% to 47%. Yang Ming occupied the bottom position at 4%.
The figures also highlight a deterioration in the performance of Gemini, the shipping network operated by Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd. The network was launched with a strong emphasis on schedule reliability, but its on-time arrival rate dropped from 70% in June to 40% in September.
Its weekly figures reveal the extent of the decline. On-time performance fell from 62% in the first week of August to 34% in the week ending September 28. Preliminary data for the week of October 5 indicated a further decrease to 28%.
Singapore Feels the Effects of Chinese Port Congestion
Disruptions are no longer confined to China’s main maritime gateways. Congestion has spread into Southeast Asia, with Singapore experiencing a particularly sharp increase in vessel queues.
The average number of ships waiting each day at the major transshipment hub nearly doubled to 22. Average waiting time also increased, climbing from 1.9 days to 3.1 days as Singapore absorbed the knock-on effects of congestion at Chinese ports.
Elsewhere in the region, Southeast Asia recorded an average vessel waiting time of 2.0 days, with 23% of vessels affected by queues.
Africa remained the most congested region despite some improvement. Ships faced an average wait of 2.5 days, while 32% of vessels were waiting.
In Northeast Asia, 30% of vessels at port were waiting, and the average delay increased by 0.3 days to 1.6 days. Conditions around Shanghai showed a mixed picture. The average number of vessels waiting at anchorage declined from 101 to 86 per day, but the average waiting time increased from 1.9 days to 2.7 days.
Blank Sailings To Rise in October
Notably, however, carriers canceled or postponed a modest share of planned capacity in September despite the widening delays. Blank sailings were 6% of the scheduled capacity on the Far East to Europe trade and 8% on Far East to North America services.
The third lowest in 21 months. September saw little need for further cancelations, as ongoing schedule delays and demand in the run-up to China’s Golden Week holiday took up available capacity.
The October outlook indicates a substantial jump in capacity drawdowns. Announced blank sailings are expected to total at least 17% of planned capacity on Far East-Europe services and 13% on Far East-North America services.
Another issue is the size of planned capacity on the Far East-to-Europe trade route. Carriers have little room to make up for operational disruptions by canceling further voyages, as scheduled capacity for October is the highest recorded in any month over a 22-month period.
With unreliable schedules, longer waits in port and higher freight rates, shippers are increasingly needing to plan ahead.
Xeneta Tells Shippers to Brace for More Disruption
Xeneta advises cargo owners to provide extra lead time for October shipments and to contact carriers directly to find out which services will be protected from capacity cuts.
The analyst also suggests shippers make schedule reliability a major point of discussion in carrier performance talks as the 2027 contract tender season approaches.
In addition to on-time arrival figures, such discussions should also include port rotations, unscheduled port calls and how carriers manage capacity when disruptions occur.
As congestion extends beyond China and planned blank sailings grow, shippers will need greater visibility of carrier operations to understand the reliability of their transport options and reduce the risk of further delays.
The latest figures are a reminder to businesses that rely on trans-Pacific supply chains to allow sufficient time for ocean freight movements and to watch closely for service changes and capacity management decisions.
