All eyes are on the Ukraine – Russia conflict at the moment, we saw many tragedies happening in the past days, bombing, refugees trying to flee from war zones, how cruel and small some leaders could be and how brave and loving others can be. As the crisis intensifies in the area, freight rates for containerized goods, oil, grains and coal could increase.
Freight disruptions in Europe and Asia as the impact of Russia’s invasion on Ukraine affects the region is causing delays to the movement of goods and sets red flags of higher shipping costs. All international merchant ships are exiting the area to safer water, there were 23 ships sitting idle still in the northeast corner of Romania, where the border starts with Ukraine, having left Ukrainian ports or simply not able to enter at all. On top of that , 43 vessels are now seen to be diverting or leaving Ukrainian anchorages since all their ports ceased operations and service has been put on hold.
Despite all sanctions that Europe, NATO and other economic entities, the conflict will have catastrophic effects in the shipping world, and everyone hopes that will not be again reflected through cyber attacks towards Ukraine, that could affect Maersk and FedEx’s European Subsidiary TNT, as collateral damage, creating a huge holdup in the industry. last time the attack cost it around 300 million USD according to The Load Star. Last time it didn’t have a huge effect on the supply chain, because there was plenty of buffer capacity in the global system, but now currently there is zero buffer capacity in container shipping, because the container crisis that affected everyone over the past year and is not over yet.
The conflict is also causing delays in air and ground cargo, most of the cargo freighters that usually transit Russia and Ukraine by plane or train, are now taking a longer route over the Middle East or had to completely stop their bookings and offer ocean alternatives instead, according to Wall Street Journal. All of these could affect shipping prices overall, and will be reflected on short and long term in the price of goods, oil grains and other materials that will be shipped worldwide over the sea.
With all these happening, people of Ukraine are still suffering and are trying to stop the Russian attack. We all send positive vibes, love, peace and prayers to all innocent people of Ukraine, Russia and Europe that are caught up in this sad and brutal conflict. If you think you want to keep a memory about this historical event, Ady Mkv, one of our supporters, created an NFT that is available on Opensea.io, entitled “There is still hope”, which is our featured image of this post. Let’s all be positive that good will thrive in the end. May God bless and protect us all!
