Opinion | From Covid-19 to crew and climate crises, shipping’s global role is under the spotlight

Name: Delayed deliveries of Christmas gifts and trees as holiday supply chain pressure builds
Uploaded: 2021-12-13T19:30:27.000Z
Duration: 1 min 57 s
Description: Delayed deliveries of Christmas gifts and trees as holiday supply chain pressure builds

Challenges continue amid the supply chain crunch but the most important is to decarbonise shipping and reach for net zero, and for that, the industry needs cooperation and government help

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A cargo ship carrying containers is seen near the Yantian port in Shenzhen in May 2020. Shipping is no longer the servant of global trade, but must play a more active role in overcoming many global challenges. Photo: Reuters

Esben Poulsson

Published: 3:30am, 14 Dec 2021Updated: 4:54am, 14 Dec 2021

This will be my last Christmas as chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping. As I prepare to hand over to Emanuele Grimaldi next June, I can say with some confidence that in my time, the shipping industry has had to navigate some its greatest challenges since World War II.

From Covid-19 to climate change, from the “crew change crisis” to the global supply chain crunch, in my 50-year career, this last two have thrown the most intense spotlight on shipping’s global role. And the challenges show no signs of diminishing next year.

Our industry is resilient, and the response to these challenges, particularly throughout the pandemic, has showed our adaptability. Not least the resilience of the nearly two million seafarers who have kept trade working.

Public awareness of shipping has also grown significantly in the last two years – not just of the positive, such as how shipping underpins a globalised economy, but also of our challenges, for example, our emissions picture. How the industry and global governments continue to meet the stern tests facing shipping will only come under more scrutiny.

Top of the agenda will be the ongoing pandemic. All industries have learned harsh lessons from Covid-19 and shipping is no different. The International Chamber of Shipping was quick to realise the pandemic’s impact and sprang into action with its first guidance issued as early as January last year.

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Delayed deliveries of Christmas gifts and trees as holiday supply chain pressure builds

Seafarers kept the world supplied with food, fuel and medicine throughout lockdowns, but their treatment has been shockingly poor at times. Long quarantines, many months worked in excess of contract periods, lack of access to vaccines and medical aid – at the height, some 400,000 seafarers were affected in the name of Covid-19 safety.