The Back-Up Route the World Can’t Afford to Ignore

Global shipping is being reshaped by structural realities rather than temporary market disruption. The latest carrier data shows global schedule reliability falling to 59.0% in February 2026, down 3.2 percentage points month-on-month, while average vessel delays widened to 5.49 days, the highest since February 2025. Corridor performance remains uneven, with Asia–North Europe reliability at 61.4%, [...]