The cost of shipping goods around the world is set to continue to rise due to geopolitical turmoil, experts have predicted.
Alongside soaring fuel prices resulting from wars in Gaza and Ukraine, shortages of qualified seafarers and a move to more sustainable shipping practices have proved challenging for shipping firms to contend with.
Tristan Eships
Dubai-based Tristar Eships, one of the region’s largest maritime logistics companies, has a fleet specialising in clean petroleum products, dry cargo and liquefied petroleum gas.
War disrupting the trade
Tristar’s chief executive of maritime logistics, Tim Coffin, said conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza were expected to continue disrupting the flow of trade, elevating the costs of moving goods around the world.
“The consequence of war is that oil needs to move further than it used to, so there is more so-called ‘ton-mile demand’ for tanker tonnage than in January 2022,” he said.
War in Ukraine has already caused substantial disruption to international shipping and maritime trade routes, largely due to the strategic importance of the Black Sea as a critical waterway for transporting goods between Europe and Asia.
Matt Stanley, a senior commodity broker at Starfuels in Dubai, said ” while the impact on shipping resulting from the Israel-Gaza conflict was expected to be less severe than the Ukraine war, it could still deal a heavy blow to fuel prices.”
Maritime levy
Tristar operates in 29 countries and will probably be impacted by extended transit routes and increasing fuel prices.
The company is also looking to convert 10 percent of its coastal vessels to electric to reduce carbon emissions.
1.89 million crew
Around 1.89 million crew are working onboard 74,000 vessels worldwide, according to the Mission to Seafarers charity that supports the welfare and rights of workers.
Many spend up to nine months a year at sea, away from families and friends, transporting around 90 per cent of the goods and fuels around the world.
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Source : The national news
