Shipping chaos may continue till demand moderates

In the last few weeks, the ocean freight rates for exporters have doubled or even trebled for certain destinations in the Gulf, Europe, and North America. As usual, the exporters are asking for some government initiatives and as usual, the government may not do anything.

Since the Houthi attacks on commercial vessels started in the Red Sea towards the end of last year, major shipping lines have been re-routing their vessels around Africa. That has raised their operating costs and extended the voyage time by about 15 days, especially for Europe-bound shipments. Even so, the situation had somewhat