North America

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Shipping companies have crew stopped to protect changes, your seamen

The World is in the middle of the Corona-Virus-pandemic, the shipping is already feeling the effects of the global economy-and write heads into a deep recession.

hundreds of ship tours were cancelled, as The First ports in China , And Then throughout The World have seen Trade fall Away , with millions of workers and consumers in lockdown.

Caught in the middle of this were The World 's 1. 6 million seafarers, the 50,000 tankers and cargo carriers. Many of them are not able to leave their ships, or they find themselves stuck in hotels without paying and not flown home.

Every month, 100 ,000 pieces of merchant mariners coming to The End of their contracts on their vessels and need to be flown home. But the pandemic stopped this.

Since the Corona-Virus outbreak, the Chinese border guards were checking the health of the crews

"the work At Sea is often described as similar to prison, except there's no TV," says the former ship's navigator, Nick Chubb .

"Although my experience was generally positive, a feeling of deep fatigue sets in towards The End of the contract. I once had a four-month contract on an Oil -tanker extended to three weeks, and found it incredibly difficult to deal with.

"Some of the sailors have spent Nine Months Away from their families. And it is not very likely That you'll be able to Go Home in the foreseeable future," added Mr Chubb, who is now Director of the maritime technology intelligence platform Thetius.

The World 's largest shipping company, AP Moller-Maersk, is one of those That was suspended, his team missed, and says That its done to protect you, to have, by reducing The Number of social interactions you need.

He adds That "the rapid changes in the global trip-off involves the risk of stranding sailors in places where they are not able to leave, or get enough support".

The cost of shipping an item across The World , only a fraction of its final selling price.

was Still in front of the Corona-Virus outbreak, the industry is grappling with important questions.

to move first, The Need for cleaner fuels through the introduction of the 2020, the sulfur emissions cap from The International Maritime organization.

the Second, the impact of the US-China Trade war and the failure of Washington and Beijing on the implementation of The First phase of its Trade agreements.

"Shipping lines have a very Hard Time , the money in the last Ten Years ," explains Alan Murphy , chief executive of the analysts of the sea-intelligence in Copenhagen.

For example, a $100 (£80) - pair of trainers, the cost of Maritime transportation will be a fraction of That - only 10c. This makes the distance That goods travel to market is irrelevant in terms of cost. And it is the reason why China , with its low labour costs, has become one of The World 's most important manufacturers.

China accounts for seven of the 10 busiest container ports in the

Peter Sand , chief shipping analyst with Bimco, The World 's largest international shipping association, recently warned in a webinar That 2020 could be increasingly tough for the industry.

"We need to ensure That the local ports and terminals are kept open, to ensure That food and goods are kept flowing to where it is needed - Because this is where the shipping hands a lifeline for the global public. "

in the face of the rippling disturbances of supply and demand around the globe, shipping companies scaling back operations. So Far , 384 trips were canceled, and The First half of the year 2020 could see a 25% drop in shipping, a 10% decline for the year as a whole, says Sea-intelligence.

the Chinese ports of departures in April, but many of the ports to serve key consumer markets are still operating far below capacity.

The industry has Not Yet had to lower the prices, but when shipping companies are forced to do so, and the freight rates to fall by 20%, as they did after the 2008 financial Crisis , and shipment volumes will remain 10% lower, "we could see operating losses of approximately $20-23 billion", Mr Murphy.

"That would wipe the shipping company, the last eight years worth of gains," he adds.

Oil Tanker are now in great demand, as the large Fall In The Price of crude Oil has led to storage

There are a lot of unknown in the previous records, the sea of Intelligence is not emphasized, it is Not Yet clear how long it will take for the broken global supply chains, in order to return to normal as soon as locks are completed.

For consumers, it could also come from periodic shortages, says Jody Cleworth, consultant-Marine Transport International.

"In developing countries such as South Africa , there is an almost complete shutdown of exports, of which the only important goods movement-ports. So the seasonal goods, we expect to see in Europe in the summer would be limited from such countries.

"For example, charcoal for your summer barbecue. At The Moment , such containers are not moved, from South Africa , so you will be with the arrival in the UK for the scheduled dates," he says.

But there is an exception to this darkness: the Oil -tanker sector. The demand for Oil tankers has risen, according to the Oil price, which sent the tanker "sky high," says Nick Chubb of Thetius falls.

"It ships A Day such as offshore floating storage is chartered now for $230,000, when the Oil prices recover. It is almost a tale of two industries," he says.

But given the impact of Covid-19 on the economy, energy demand in the year 2020 is expected to be significantly lower, and it is possible That these tankers can come to the storage of Oil for a while.

World Trade

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So, what is the effect to be Covid-19 is also on the ship's journey through the year 2020?

With virtually no cargo moved by air, shipping to could on even greater significance. Already 90% of global Trade by volume goes by sea. However, many analysts expect That the decline in demand in Europe and North America have a long-term effect.

"We could a decade of talk, at least, of the difficulty," suggests Nick Chubb of Thetius.

Alan Murphy says the pandemic will trigger questions about the Form and the sustainability of World Trade and globalization. "Many of the protectionist arguments to be made against outsourcing.

"It will be a very profound impact on how global supply chains are organized. It is a political issue in the coming years. "

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Source of news: bbc.com