Quest for Quality 2023: Ocean Carriers

Ocean shippers faced stormy seas over the course of 2022, as extremely tight capacity resulted in high rates and record-breaking profits for ocean carriers. As contributing editor Karen Thuermer documented in her recent comprehensive look at the ocean market, this year, shipping analysts see the pendulum swinging in a different direction.

“Rolling into 2023, rates were decreasing and now volumes are falling, and new capacity is coming online,” says Thuermer. “Some analysts are even saying, albeit with some reservation, that the market has returned to normalcy.”

Indeed, various market drivers continue to influence ocean shipping rates this year, such as weaker demand aggravating inventory reductions; the possible return of over-capacity in container shipping as a result of the number of new ships coming online; and ocean carriers’ attempts to control capacity, mainly through “cancelled sailings.”

“Several ocean market analysts see the ocean shipping industry experiencing a freight recession due to the postponement of inventory replenishment cycles by retailers that overstocked,” adds Thuermer. “Most companies have cut back on imports or are seeing their exports decline since mid-2022, and warehouses remain largely full. Our sources suggest that retailers are going to need to clear that inventory before the next lot of imports in our docks.”

Despite these rough operational seas, the readers of Logistics Management say that these 13 ocean carriers have offered consistent, steady service through the past 12 months and are all worthy of Quest for Quality gold.

While all of the weighted scores were solid, we found a number of different carriers putting up highest marks in our attribute categories this year. APL posted the highest score in On-time Performance (11.80); Atlantic Container Line put up top marks in Value (10.77) and Customer Service (11.40); while TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico scored best in Information Technology (10.68) and Equipment & Operations (11.52).