How shippers can prepare for whatever the Red Sea crisis throws at them

Photo 190249291 © Akram Alrasny | Dreamstime.com

The Red Sea crisis shows little sign of abating – if anything, US and UK air strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen are more likely to further fan the flames of a conflict veering dangerously close to being out of control. But trade continues moving, and shippers have no choice but to deal with whatever geopolitics next throws at them. According to this article, penned by crowd-sourced freight rate data platform Xeneta, there are a few key steps supply chain managers can adopt to ready themselves for increasingly rough seas. These include: a willingness to switch to air freight; a focus on the sea freight spot market for the time being, because carriers are unlikely to honour contracts signed before the crisis erupted; increased data usage; and, probably most importantly, communicating to shippers’ boards, especially CFOs, that shipping costs are getting higher and sudden surcharges are likely through the first quarter – after all, sharing is caring