Container ship delays: only 4% on time from Asia to Europe in September

TUESDAY, 13 OCTOBER 2026

In September only 4% of container ships from the Far East reached Europe on time, with a 9.9-day average delay: the worst reading since 2021.

Container ship delays on the route from the Far East to Europe were the worst since 2021 in September: only 4% of container ships arrived on time and the average delay was 9.9 days. That is the finding of the monthly container schedule reliability scorecard by Xeneta, a Norwegian ocean freight analytics platform, published on 12 October.

Container ship delays: the September figures

Schedule reliability measures the share of vessels that reach port within the window set by the carrier's published schedule. Worldwide it fell to 27% in September, two points below August. The worst-hit lane is the one that brings goods made in China and South-East Asia to Europe, where the share of on-time ships had already collapsed in August. According to Xeneta, September was the worst month for this corridor since September 2021, at the height of the post-pandemic logistics crisis.

The key figures, confirmed by more than one source:

• On-time vessels from the Far East to Europe: 4% in September, against 6% in August.
• Average delay on the same lane: 9.9 days in September, against 8.2 days in August.
• Average global schedule reliability of container lines: 27% in September, against 29% in August and 33% in July.
• Four carriers at their 12-month low for on-time vessels in September: Hapag-Lloyd 45%, CMA CGM 30%, Cosco 18%, Yang Ming 4%.

Which carriers lost reliability

The decline is not limited to one carrier. According to Xeneta, in September every carrier posted its highest average delay of the past 12 months, and four major lines hit their annual low for on-time arrivals. Hapag-Lloyd, which Xeneta lists among the most reliable carriers, stopped at 45%. According to the analysis, the gap between the most and least reliable carriers is narrowing, but because the leaders are getting worse too.

The figure does not say how late an individual shipment will be: it is an average across the vessels that arrived during the month. A container can arrive on time on a punctual ship or lose two weeks on a vessel that skipped or waited at a port call. The 4% does indicate, however, that on the lane carrying most of the goods imported from Asia, the schedule published in September almost always proved optimistic.

Why ships are arriving late

Xeneta links the deterioration to the typhoons that have hit the Chinese coast since July, on top of existing congestion at Asian ports. In August, after four consecutive typhoons, vessels at anchor off Ningbo, Shanghai and Yantian were carrying 1.1 million TEU of cargo waiting for a berth. Queues at origin ports turn into arrival delays at European ports in the following weeks. On top of this came the Chinese holidays of late September and early October, the Mid-Autumn Festival and Golden Week, with around ten days of factory closures.

What it means for importers

The figure does not mean every shipment will be ten days late, but it suggests not planning sales on the arrival date given by the carrier. For companies importing consumer goods, promotional items or components from Asia into Europe, three things are worth reviewing.

First, the calendar: add a margin of at least one or two weeks to transit times for goods meant for year-end sales or fixed-date events, and consider air freight for part of the batch when the deadline cannot move.

Second, stock: an average delay of almost ten days means covering more than a week of extra sales with goods already in the warehouse, with the related cost of capital and space.

Third, contracts: delivery terms and penalties with end customers should be tied to the actual arrival date in port, not to the one expected at departure, and demurrage and storage costs should be agreed with the forwarder in advance.

October offers no recovery

Xeneta reports that in October carriers are increasing blank sailings between Asia and Europe, and advisories from MSC and Maersk confirm cancelled voyages in the first weeks of the month. Fewer departures can help ships get back on schedule, but they reduce loading opportunities and lengthen lead times for those who still have to ship. For goods expected in November and December, the window to reorganise orders is closing.

With La Merce, companies importing year-end products from Asia build their calendar on the real 9.9-day delay on the route to Europe, not on the carrier's schedule, and decide in time which batches to move to air freight.

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