Shippers negotiating new contracts this year face a major rates dilemma as the maritime industry contemplates a return to using the Suez Canal.
When carriers revert to transiting the canal, the reduction in voyage tonne-miles will begin to expose the overcapacity in the market, pushing a significant downward trend in freight rates, especially on Asia-Europe trades.
Shipping analyst Drewry estimates rerouting round the Cape of Good Hope reduced effective capacity by around 9%, «which has helped carriers once again post some very strong quarterly profits in the past 12 months».
The coronavirus outbreak exposed the fragility of global supply chains that move goods between countries. Due to the volatility of the logistic market, carriers are facing new risks and the need to promptly respond to changes in order to manage them. The global cargo transportation market is experiencing significant difficulties caused by abrupt decrease of the transport infrastructure throughput due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Red Sea crisis was a new challenge for maritime shipping, which begs the question of whether the maritime shipping market will be able to adapt to new circumstances or whether the unstable situation in the Red Sea will push shippers to switch to rail transport.
