World Maritime Supply Chains & Straits
Maritime routes involve 5 crucial international waterways namely “ The English Channel, Malacca Strait, Hormuz Strait, Suez Canal and the Panama Canal”. Each of these 5 waterways have had distinct disruptions with respect to supply chains. The English Channel has an advantage of modern Sea Ports with minimal collisions and congestion although it has been embroiled in controversies by rerouting small boats trying to make it to UK’s shore from France mostly consisting of civilians fleeing war ravaged countries for a “better life” only to be intercepted and rerouted to the African continent by authorities within the English Channel.
Strait of Malacca
Strait of Malacca connects the Indian and Pacific Ocean and is known as a trading hub for developed Asian Economies in particularly Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and India. In the South China Sea the People’s Republic of China lays claim to sovereignty over the Sea by ensuring members of ASEAN trade area are deprived from asserting sovereignty .Malacca is being increasingly blamed for maritime traffic as well as dilapidated infrastructure of ports as Malacca is unable to have incoming vessels anchored hence inflicting damage on the efficiency of local fishermen.
Suez Canal & Hormuz Strait
On the other hand ports within the Suez Canal and Hormuz Strait have the right infrastructure in place and maintain seamless shipping traffic with the Hormuz Strait conducting a two-lane traffic system to cater to inbound and outbound vessels respectively. Inspite of excellent infrastructure shipping fleets accessing Suez Canal and Hormuz Strait are invariably dragged into regional tension and flashpoints at the dividing line between Asia and Africa as the functionality of Suez Canal has come under severe risk due to attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels operating from the coastline of Yemen. The Strait of Hormuz remains vulnerable to attacks by Houthi rebels being home to a fifth of world’s oil consumption .
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is becoming increasingly vulnerable to extreme droughts resulting in scarcity of Lake Gatun’s freshwater required to lift the locks of the canals in order to enable vessels passing through it. Pressure is mounting on the Panama Canal authorities to anchor inbound ships rerouted from the Red Sea .An engineering marvel, the Panama Canal cannot afford traffic congestion although unfortunately it is battling climate change and drought as it was artificially designed to make way for shorter shipping routes between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean.
US backed Lobito Corridor
To counter the so called “debt trap of China” the US has come up with the vision of developing Lobito Corridor in Africa. The Lobito Corridor project entails the construction of almost 350 miles of rail line in Zambia, accompanied by hundreds of miles of feeder roads, linking the southern part of The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the northwestern part of Zambia to regional and global markets via Angola’s Port of Lobito.
Benefit to South Asian Seaports
Oil tankers are under threat due to the ongoing Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and struggling economies such as Pakistan and Sri Lanka are in dire need of importing hydrocarbons at reduced prices hence the time is opportune to attract oil tankers from the strait of Hormuz to be docked in the ports of Southeast Asia. Prevalent rising sea levels in the Northern Hemisphere may potentially compel ships to anchor in ports of South East Asia indicating a shift in the world of maritime traffic. South Asia’s seaports can benefit from the impact of climate change coupled with the conflict in the Red Sea and optimistically South Asia seaports are poised to attract reputable shipping lines. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) can have a major role to play in restoring and re strategising the world’s dominant shipping routes .
Authored by Razeen Ahmed
Credit/Sources
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