Shipper Alert: Soaring Freight Rates in Wake of Red Sea Attacks
Freight rates are massively spiking in the wake of Iranian-backed Houthi Rebel attacks on ships in the Red Sea. Literally hundreds of ships are being rerouted away from the Suez Canal.
Spot rates were already on the rise with general rate increases (GRIs) on December 1st and 15th. But with nearly 90% of ships heading for the Red Sea, which connects to the Suez Canal, getting rerouted at a time when the Panama Canal is experiencing disruption because of a drought, freight rates are really spiking.
Reports (such as in this CNBC article from Lori Ann LaRocco) have come out of shipping container quotes in the $10,000 range. All-Ways sent a shipping newsflash in which the international shipping company wrote, “Surcharges can reach up to $1 million in added voyage time through the Cape of Good Hope or in the high fares and long wait times of crossing the Panama Canal without an appointment.”
The kind of freight rate numbers being talked about are not only massive but outrageous. Additionally, here at Universal Cargo, we were sent a warning that carriers would add $1,000 GRIs to freight rates on January 1st.
Air freight rates are also increasing as shippers are looking to the sky for alternatives.
