The grounding of the 400-metre cargo ship, laden with nearly 20,000 containers, had led to a build-up of almost 400 vessels at the north and south entrances to the Suez Canal, which carries about 12 per cent of global trade. Tankers loaded with 9.8 million barrels of crude, about a tenth of a day’s global consumption, were waiting to enter the canal. But in the aftermath of the grounding, the marine freight industry and industries depending on global supply chains may well have to engage similarly qualitative reassessments of their whole operations. A crisis in Suez, or the Panama Canal, or the Strait of Malacca, or the Strait of Hormuz could rock global markets. The grounding will also probably lead to a reassessment of alternative routes, notably the newly emerging summer route across the Arctic made possible by global warming.

Source: The Irish Times March 30, 2021 22:41 UTC