As is well known, increasing attacks in the Red Sea caused by the war between Israel and Hamas is prompting shipping companies to re-route their ships to the Cape of Good Hope.
The Africa roundtrip, however, requires increased sailing time compared to what it normally takes to reach the Far East via Suez and the Red Sea, for example.
If we consider a standard vessel speed of 17 knots, this means 9 days more for trade between Northern Europe and the Far East; 14 days for services to the Mediterranean; and 5 days for sailings to the North American east coast, according to Sea Intelligence’s latest report.
The report suggests that for a complete round trip additional ships will have to be included in the east-west services with the aim of maintaining a weekly frequency of departures.
By envisaging the possibility that an extra vessel could be employed on the trades under investigation for every additional seven days’ sailing, it is possible to calculate how many extra ships will be needed on each route.
Sea Int. says that circumnavigating Africa would require between 1.4 and 1.7 million TEUs of additional vessel capacity. This is 5.1%-6% of the total global boxship capacity.
Translation by Giles Foster
