Numerous rocket attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen on container ships bound for Europe are once again causing unrest in global supply chains. Maersk, MSC and Hapag Lloyd are the first major container shipping companies to now have their ships sail around Africa instead of the shorter route through the Suez Canal. This means that ship journeys from Asia to Europe now take 30 days instead of 13 days.
The Switzerland-based MSC will no longer send ships through the Suez Canal for the time being. Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk had previously stopped transport through the waterway. In recent days western security authorities recorded more than 20 attacks on commercial ships passing through the strait off Yemen on their way through the Suez Canal.
Simultaneously the Panama Canal – the second global man-made waterway – can only be used to a limited extent due to low water levels. Ships from Asia to the US West Coast now also have to travel westwards through the Suez Canal or around Africa.
So far no impact on the availability of digital signage hardware
The warehouses of display suppliers in Europe and North America are still well filled due to disappointing market demand. There should be no major delivery problems in the short term. However, extending the transport from 13 to 30 days entails higher costs, which will also be factored into visual solutions’ sales prices with a temporal delay.