Red Sea attacks already bigger issue for supply chain than pandemic, maritime advisory warns

A leading ocean supply chain advisory firm is warning that the disruptions to shipping from the Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea are already more damaging to the supply chain impact than the early Covid-19 pandemic.

Sea-Intelligence analyzed current vessel delays compared to delays over the last several years in a report for clients. The data shows that the longer transit around the Cape of Good Hope as ships divert from the Red Sea is already having a more significant impact on vessels available to pick up containers at ports than during the pandemic. This supply chain measure is known in the industry as "vessel capacity."

The vessel capacity drop is the second largest in recent years, according to Alan Murphy, CEO of Sea-Intelligence. The only single event with a bigger impact than the Red Sea crisis was the "Ever Given," the giant cargo ship which got stuck in the Suez Canal for six days during March 2021. Billions in trade were at a standstill during that event. With that exception, "This [the Red Sea crisis] is the largest single event – even larger than the early pandemic impact," Murphy said.

Sea-Intelligence marked two phases of the pandemic. The first phase impacted Chinese ports due to Covic-19 travel, trucking and manufacturing restrictions, and the second phase incorporated the global spread of the pandemic.

A key difference between the pandemic period and now is vessel capacity that could be brought back online. Traditionally, during the period of the year that includes February's Chinese New Year, vessel capacity declines due to a decrease in container demand. That's because ocean carriers bring in containers early, starting the previous October, ahead of the manufacturing plants closing in honor of the