Trade and industry groan from a lack of supplies – whether cars, building materials, fertilizer or steel. According to Allianz, a quick end to the problems in shipping is not in sight.
Due to the pandemic and the Ukraine war, the major international trading ports around the world are currently overloaded. This was reported by the industrial insurer AGCS, which belongs to Allianz.
The war has exacerbated the delivery problems caused by the pandemic, the congestion in ports and also the problems in recruiting ships’ crews, the experts write in the new edition of their annual analysis of shipping risks.
In the world’s largest port of Shanghai alone, a return to normal operations after the lockdown, which is still ongoing, could take months, as AGCS risk advisor Anastasios Leonburg said. “I don’t think that will be solved quickly in the near future.” It is difficult to make a forecast because it depends on the measures taken by the Chinese authorities and the development of the pandemic in China.
Experts fear technical problems
According to the Allianz assessment, the freight capacities in merchant shipping are too scarce overall. That’s why major international shipping companies ordered 7.5 million new containers, Leonburg said. “You have to build a lot more containers, which then come into circulation.”
Apart from the delivery problems, the experts see further risks for shipping, mostly of a technical nature. The number of total losses has more than halved over the past ten years, said Justus Heinrich, head of AGCS ship insurance in Central Europe. In 2012, there were 127 sunken or irreparably damaged ships, compared to just 54 last year. But as container ships get bigger, they often can’t find a port to call at if there’s a fire on board, Leonburg said. Last year, the freighter X-Press Pearl, sailing under the Singaporean flag, sank off the coast of Sri Lanka after a fire that lasted almost two weeks.
Shipping is becoming safer overall
According to AGCS estimates, undeclared dangerous goods are secretly transported in around five percent of the containers shipped worldwide. In the past five years, more than 70 fires have broken out on container ships. This not only concerns the insurance companies: “But we are also concerned about the increasing number of fires on freighters, especially container ships and car transporters,” said Christian Naegeli, safety officer for the Association of German Shipowners. In the case of false declarations of dangerous cargo on board, the shippers are asked to urgently correct them.
The shipowners also emphasized that shipping is becoming safer and safer. “Although there are more and more merchant ships and although there are also more and more very large container ships, the number of serious accidents has been falling continuously for years,” said Managing Director Martin Kröger.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
