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Facing the uncertainties of 2024, cross-border people have recently encountered a series of turmoil. The logistics difficulties alone are enough to make people feel uncomfortable: first, there are short-term freight rate increases and shipping delays due to the situation in the Red Sea, and then there are Shenzhen freight forwarders who have gone bankrupt one after another and have no time to redeem the goods... Amid the turmoil, another major accident occurred in the cross-border logistics industry recently. It is learned that according to US media reports, in the early morning of March 26 local time, a container ship collided with the Barr Bridge in Maryland, USA, causing the bridge to collapse. As can be seen from the picture, after the container ship hit the bridge, a large part of the bridge fell like dominoes and fell into the river. As a result, all ships north of the bridge were trapped in place. Data shows that there are still more than 40 ships in the Port of Baltimore, including small cargo ships, tugboats and cruise ships. The report said that this accident was the most serious bridge collapse in the United States since 2007, which may cause many people and vehicles to fall into the water. Relevant departments are rushing to the scene for emergency rescue and investigating the cause of the accident. So far, the specific results of the injuries and the number of containers that fell have not been announced. However, it was learned that the "protagonist" of the accident - the container ship that crashed into the bridge was named "Dali", which was leased by the global shipping giant Maersk. The cargo it loaded involved multiple shipping companies such as Maersk, MSC, ZIM, MCC, etc. It had called at multiple domestic ports such as Yantian, Xiamen, Ningbo, etc., and was possibly fully loaded with Chinese goods. The other "protagonist" - the collapsed bridge is called Francis Scott Key, which is 1.6 miles (about 2.57 kilometers) long and is located on the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Its collapse cut off the only waterway in Baltimore Port. It is understood that the Port of Baltimore is the 13th largest foreign trade port in the United States and one of the busiest ports on the East Coast of the United States, handling about 21,000 standard containers per week. In this regard, industry insiders believe that this accident may cause obstruction and congestion in shipping traffic in the East Coast of the United States, thereby increasing shipping costs in the East Coast of the United States. It is not clear when the Port of Baltimore will resume normal operations. But what is certain is that due to the accident, not only will the cargo carried by the container ship involved suffer losses, but for the cargo that should have passed through the Port of Baltimore, the relevant cross-border sellers may also face large-scale logistics delays and soaring freight rates in the future. In addition to this accident, the increase in freight rates on many export routes from Asia has also added to the worries of sellers. This year, the global supply chain crisis has erupted around the world. In addition to the continued fermentation of the Red Sea navigation crisis in the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal, another shortest route connecting the East Coast of the United States and Asia, is also experiencing a rare drought in a century, resulting in obstruction of shipping companies. It is understood that the Panama Canal is also an important waterway for global trade. Data shows that in fiscal year 2022, more than 14,000 ships carrying 518 million tons of cargo passed through the Panama Canal. In 2023, it and the Suez Canal carried about 18% of the world's trade volume. Based on this, industry insiders analyzed that the obstruction of the two major trade routes may cause shipping companies to adjust routes or pass on costs to shippers. It is learned that according to the latest notifications from several shipping companies, freight rates on many export routes from Asia will increase significantly in April this year, with an increase of about US$900 to US$2,000. In addition, according to sources, due to the fact that the growth rate of cross-border e-commerce orders this year has exceeded expectations, shipping companies have already experienced warehouse overflows in the market, and other shipping companies are expected to announce increases in ocean freight rates for April as well. It can be seen that due to the unstable situation in the sea areas near many important canals and the reduction in the effective global container transportation capacity, it seems that it is certain that shipping freight rates will continue to rise in the future, and the logistics costs of cross-border sellers may increase. Since it is difficult to predict what subsequent impact the giant cargo ship's collapse of the bridge will have on the global supply chain, and the transportation problems in the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal have not yet been properly resolved, in order to avoid large-scale logistics delays, it is recommended that all sellers make shipping plans in advance and continue to pay attention to international freight situations.
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