We’ve been through restrictions, lockdowns, and infections in the last few months. This situation has had an impact not only on everyone’s personal lives, but also on the global transportation sector. There have been numerous delivery delays, particularly for raw materials. We are well aware that logistics and transportation necessitate well-organized actions and procedures, the failure of which risks affecting the subsequent stages.
And, as a result, the entire supply chain is delayed. What happened exactly in the world of sea transport?
The interminable waits found in world-wide distribution ports are one of the main causes of delays. The processes of embarkation and disembarkation are noticeably slowed due to port lockdowns and increasingly stringent procedures to avoid contact.
The ships’ punctuality has dropped from 80 percent to 35 percent.
As a result, the ships are stuck in port waiting for their turn, causing a delay in the delivery of goods. It is possible, for example, that microchip assembly companies and electronic devices fail to meet deadlines for finished product delivery because they lack the primary raw materials with which to manufacture products.
The greater the scarcity of a product, the higher its market value and price. This is true for both products and transportation, both of which have increased significantly, which naturally affects the final consumer. Import/export costs have increased by up to 6-7 times.
Furthermore, the years 2020 and 2021 were marked by a much more practical shortage: containers. It was difficult (and thus expensive) to find 40′ containers available for departure near the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021. Fortunately, the problem appears to be resolved, but this demonstrates that the sea transport sector is influenced by a plethora of factors.
According to the Review of Maritime Transport 2021, a global official document that analyzes the changes and future perspectives of marine transport, it is clear that the factors that influence transport performance are numerous and diverse. In any case, the pandemic has played a larger role in the current crisis: infected and forced personnel at home, a lack of qualified personnel to replace it, entire cities and ports closed for lockdown, and a minor increase in demand due to the growth of e-commerce and purchases. All of these factors highlight the issues of a complex and challenging industry.
In international transportation, it is therefore critical to rely on an experienced consultant who knows how to plan your needs and adapt them to current dynamics in order to achieve the best possible result.
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