Media Contact
Adam Allington
Some 1,600 ships remain stuck in the Strait of Hormuz, after President Trump’s “Project Freedom” lasted just 48 hours, with only two ships guided through. Now, shipping companies and stranded seafarers are again left without a safe way out and experts are increasingly skeptical that the crisis will be resolved anytime soon.
Vidya Mani
Visiting Associate Professor
Vidya Mani, a visiting professor at Cornell University whose research focuses on global supply chains, says with the ongoing crisis represents one of the cargo shipping industry’s most serious challenges yet.
Mani says:
“The loss of reliable passage through critical global waterways is a serious problem. Maritime transport carries most world trade and, until COVID-19, had been one of the most dependable and efficient systems for moving billions of tons of cargo.
“That reliability drove heavy investment in larger fleets, expanded vessel capacity, and port automation, with major routes operating near full capacity. But efficiency came at the cost of resilience, leaving little room to absorb shocks or reroute traffic.
“The Suez Canal blockage, low water levels in the Panama Canal, and Houthi attacks near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait all exposed the fragility of these chokepoints. Now, with the Strait of Hormuz closed and fuel prices rising, the industry faces a reckoning. Shippers must rethink routing, load planning, and fuel efficiency, all of which will raise costs across a system once built for seamless trade.”
