Middle East Conflict Pushes Maersk to Reroute Again
-
By
Arthur Kellan
- Business
- # business news
- 4 min read
-
By
Arthur Kellan
- Business
- # business news
- 4 min read
Shipping is under pressure again. This time, the disruption looks harder to unwind. Longer routes, higher freight bills, tighter insurance terms and rising supply chain costs are starting to look less like a temporary shock and more like a standing feature of global trade.
Routes Are Stretching Again
Maersk spent much of March changing services as security risks in the Middle East intensified. It said future Trans-Suez sailings on affected routes would be paused, vessels would go around the Cape of Good Hope, and crossings through the Strait of Hormuz would remain suspended until further notice. It also warned customers about emergency freight charges, storage in transit and reduced cargo insurance availability in parts of the region. [1]
The problem does not end with the ship that gets diverted. Longer routes mean slower schedules, higher fuel use and less predictability for cargo owners. Even companies with little direct exposure to the most dangerous lanes can end up paying more once the network starts absorbing the strain.
The Bill Is Rising Across the Industry
Ships were still taking the long way around in early January. Drewry recorded a sharp jump in Cape of Good Hope voyages, while Suez Canal transits remained well below pre-crisis levels. That keeps costs and transit times from settling down. UNCTAD has made a similar point: when trade shifts onto longer routes, transport work rises, shipping costs climb and supply chains feel it. [2]
The added costs are no longer theoretical. Reuters reported that Hapag-Lloyd is facing an extra $40 million to $50 million in weekly costs because of the Middle East conflict, with higher fuel, insurance and storage among the main drivers. The company said those costs are too large to absorb for long and will have to be passed on. [3]
This part is already familiar to business. Conflict does not stay on the map. It shows up in invoices, insurance clauses and delivery windows.
From Shock to Routine Planning
What has changed is the response. In 2022, many companies still treated disruption as something temporary. That is harder to do now.
The question is no longer just how to respond when one corridor becomes unsafe. The question now is how to run a business when rerouting, war-risk premiums and extra security costs become recurring problems. For shippers, retailers and manufacturers, that usually means carrying more buffer stock, building more time into schedules and putting more weight on logistics planning.
Once instability starts to look persistent, supply chain costs stop looking temporary as well. They begin feeding into procurement, inventory, pricing, logistics planning and working capital. In other words, the problem is no longer only disruption. It is the higher baseline cost of moving goods through an unstable world.
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A Harder Normal for Supply Chains
The strain is spreading through the wider system. Reuters reported on March 30 that Morocco’s Tanger Med port was preparing for more diverted traffic as ships rerouted around Africa, with transit times extended by 10 to 14 days and carriers imposing surcharges of roughly $1,500 to $4,000 per container. That does not always produce a dramatic shock. More often, it shows up as steady friction: longer journeys, costlier cover and more money tied up in goods that take longer to arrive. [4]
Companies are still adapting. What is changing is the assumption behind that adaptation.
For global business, that may be the more important shift. Supply chains are no longer being built around the assumption that stability will return soon. They are being built around the possibility that disruption may keep returning — and that the cost of that disruption has to be built into the business model.
Sources:
[1] Maersk — Middle East operational updates and rerouting notices
[2] Drewry; UNCTAD — Red Sea diversion tracking and maritime transport analysis
[3] Reuters — Hapag-Lloyd on added weekly costs from fuel, insurance and storage
[4] Reuters — Tanger Med prepares for more diverted traffic amid Gulf war
Arthur Kellan
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