Articles by Jonathan Saul, Muyu Xu and Yilei Sun

Global Supply Chains Driven to Breaking Point on New COVID Wave, Natural Disasters

LONDON/BEIJING – A new worldwide wave of COVID-19. Natural disasters in China and Germany. A cyber attack targeting key South African ports. Events have conspired to drive global supply chains towards breaking point, threatening the fragile flow of raw materials, …

Suez Canal Blockage Continues to Disrupt Global Trade, Hitting Supply Chains

LONDON/LOS ANGELES – A backlog of container ships carrying consumer goods has grown in some key strategic ports after a near week-long blockage in the Suez Canal, adding to ongoing disruptions to global trade, industry sources say. Dozens of container …

Reinsurers Will Bear Most of Costs of Container-Ship Grounding in Suez Canal

LONDON — Reinsurers are set to foot most of the bill for the grounding of the ship that halted traffic in the Suez Canal, industry sources said, with payouts expected to run into hundreds of millions of dollars. International supply …

Suez Canal Must Upgrade to Avoid Future Shipping Disruption: Sources

CAIRO – Egypt’s Suez Canal must move quickly to upgrade its technical infrastructure if it is to avoid future shipping disruption, shipping industry sources said, as the major trade route tries to bounce back from a costly six-day closure. International …

Insurance Unlikely to Cover All Shipowners’ Expenses Incurred in Suez Closure Chaos

The owners and charterers of ships unable to sail through the the Suez Canal for nearly a week face at least $24 million in expenses they will be unable to recoup as their insurance policies do not cover them, industry …

Insurers of Container Ship Aground in Suez Canal Face Millions in Claims

LONDON – The owner and insurers of one of the world’s largest container ships stuck in the Suez Canal face claims totalling millions of dollars even if the ship is refloated quickly, industry sources said on Wednesday. The 400-meter, 224,000-tonne …

Top Trading Firms Vow to Help Merchants Sailors Stuck on Ships Due to Coronavirus

Over 300 leading companies said on Tuesday they would work together to help hundreds of thousands of merchant sailors stuck on ships for many months due to COVID-19 in a crisis that risks creating more dangers at sea. About 90% …

Marine Insurers Set to Raise Rates After Red Sea Attacks on Merchant Ships

LONDON – Insurers are set to raise the cost of providing cover for merchant ships through the Red Sea after a series of incidents that have hit vessels around Saudi Arabian waters, industry sources said. The possibility of more attacks …

Insurers Face Liability Uncertainties as Ships Begin to Sail Through Arctic Waters

When Captain Will Whatley guides a ship through Arctic waters, he is starkly aware of what can go wrong. Double the manpower is needed to navigate. Lookout shifts are kept to just one hour, so sailors don’t lose concentration and …

Middle East Insurers Likely to Absorb Bulk of Losses from Beirut Port Blast: Sources

Insurers in the Middle East are expected to absorb a large part of the losses from Beirut’s explosion last week with Lloyd’s of London and other international players expected to be less exposed, insurance industry sources said. Lebanese officials have …