(www.MaritimeCyprus.com) The Review of Maritime Transport is a recurrent publication prepared by the UNCTAD secretariat since 1968 with the aim of fostering the transparency of maritime markets and analysing relevant developments.
Maritime transport serves as the main artery of global trade. Intricate networks of shipping routes, ports and maritime chokepoints have enabled globalization and strengthened the interconnectedness of the world economy. However, the sector is facing numerous challenges that threaten the efficiency, reliability, resilience and sustainability of maritime transport.
A key feature of maritime transport is its reliance on chokepoints: strategic, narrow maritime passages such as the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal. These critical waterways provide shortcuts to lengthy intercontinental maritime journeys and reduce time and costs. Yet the essential role of these chokepoints makes them particularly vulnerable to disruptions—whether climatic, economic, geopolitical or operational—leading to severe consequences for global shipping.
As a case in point, the 2021 blockage of the Suez Canal by the Ever Given, a large container ship, underscored the grave implications of such disruptions for trade and the global economy. Delays, logistical hurdles, costs and financial losses arising from maritime disruptions are usually significant. Yet, just after recovering from the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic and having started to adjust to new shifts in trade patterns triggered by the war in Ukraine, global supply chains and trade are now grappling with an additional wave of disruptions.
Recent challenges faced since late 2023 in the Red Sea and the Suez Canal as a result of Houthi attacks on ships crossing the waterway have added more complexity to the maritime operating landscape. The attacks have caused vessels across most fleet segments to avoid the Red Sea and the Suez Canal and to navigate around the Cape of Good Hope. This has led to extended distances and transit times and higher operational costs for shipping companies, ports and trade. The attacks have compounded environmental challenges for the sector due to the additional carbon emissions generated from higher fuel consumption and the increased sailing speeds needed to maintain service schedules.
Elsewhere, reduced water levels in the Panama Canal—a crucial connector of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans—caused daily ship transits to be slashed and maritime trade to divert onto longer routes. The escalating costs arising from maritime chokepoint disruptions translate into higher shipping rates that are inevitably passed on to consumers. In addition to uncertainty and volatility, this situation exacerbates inflation and undermines economic growth, with Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) hit the hardest. iiiReview of maritime transport 2024 Navigating maritime chokepoints.
Overview Maritime transport is also facing the twin challenge of decarbonizing and the need to transition to cleaner energy sources. The urgency to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and overhaul the industry’s reliance on traditional fossil fuels has never been more critical. Swift action is needed, and this will require significant operational shifts, innovation, investments in a new and younger fleet, and crucially, a transition to cleaner technologies and ships equipped to run on alternative fuels. While the bill for this transformation will be considerable, shying away from the sector’s decarbonization and sustainability goals is not an option. Failing to act would jeopardize the achievement of the global Sustainable Development Goals and threaten our collective climate targets. Building sustainable and resilient maritime transport is not just an option—it is a strategic necessity.
Future-proofing global supply chains depends on strengthening maritime chokepoints, which are vital to the resilience of maritime trade. Achieving more robust, reliable and resilient maritime chokepoints requires maritime transport and logistics to embrace green technologies, digitalization and greater international cooperation. It also demands significant investment, leveraging data and intelligence and ensuring that all stakeholders—shipping, ports, policymakers, Governments, trade entities and supply chain managers—work together.
As the sector navigates these complexities and, in a world, where disruption is becoming part of the “new normal”, prioritizing the energy transition and fostering agile, resilient transport and logistics will go a long way to helping global trade and the world economy thrive, while withstanding and adapting to shocks and disruption.
The Review of Maritime Transport 2024 discusses the multifaceted challenges facing maritime transport today. It provides insights into current trends and the outlook for maritime transport and trade. It discusses how maritime trade is being upended by disruptions including in maritime chokepoints. It examines the implications for the shipping fleet which delivers international trade and is at the front line of vessel rerouting. It analyses the implications of soaring shipping rates on consumer prices, and how this particularly affects the GDP of SIDS and LDCs.
Additionally, it outlines how port performance monitoring, measurement and reporting can gauge the pulse of the maritime sector and support the Sustainable Development Goals, including those related to gender equality and women’s empowerment. The importance of transport and trade facilitation across ports and hinterland connections for sustainability, efficiency and resilience is emphasized.
For more in-depth details, click below to download an overview of UNCTAD Maritime transport review 2024 report:
The Full UNCTAD Maritime transport review 2024 report, can be downloaded HERE.
Source: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
