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Impact of disruption in key global waterways
Disruptions that affect international shipping have the potential to reshape global maritime networks and reconfigure the world trading map.
Two months into 2024, the Red Sea and Suez Canal disruption that began in November 2023 continues to unfold, putting at risk the free movement of goods and interwoven global supply chains. The Red Sea disruption comes on top of disruptions that are already constraining vessel crossing in the Panama Canal and the war in Ukraine affecting activity in the Black Sea. If sustained, these disruptions of key international maritime waterways could cause greater upheaval in global supply chains.
The drop in monthly transits underscores the magnitude of overlapping disruptions and their impact on both the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal (figure 1). In both canals, transits are currently down by more than 40 per cent – almost 50 per cent for Panama – compared to their peaks. In the Suez Canal, most of the decline in transits occurred over the last two months, while transits through the Panama Canal have been decreasing over the last two years.