TT Club, Transport and Logistics Insurance Company have warned about continuing supply chain risks resulting from the latest blockage of the Suez Canal.
About 30% of the world’s container cargo by-passes through the Suez Canal every year. Due to the Ever Given ship running onto aground, the canal was blocked for nearly a week last month. Due to the blockage, about 300 ships were delayed, and other ships were rerouted to a longer passage around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.
Mike Yarwood, Managing Director for loss prevention in TT said that even though the blockage has been cleared, the industry is still feeling the effects.
Yarwood said, “There will certainly be a knock-on impact for the people involved in discharging the containers at respective ports when they finally reach, as well as the final-mile delivery carriers, disregarding the delay of onboard cargo. While the instant impact may be the delay of cargo, presenting market supply challenges, the further potential risk will emerge when the cargo does start to turn up.” Destination hubs will not be the only ones affected by the risk. It will also intensify an existing imbalance of container equipment, specifically on east-to-west trade routes, because laden containers are tied up and subsequently unavailable.
