Recently, due to the continued escalation of tensions in the Red Sea, many international shipping companies have chosen to avoid traditional Red Sea routes and instead bypass Africa. This has put many African ports under increasing pressure.
Due to the significant increase in vessel voyages due to detours around Africa, demand for marine fuel oil has surged in many ports in South Africa, Mauritius and the Canary Islands of Spain. Recently, the price of marine fuel oil in Cape Town, South Africa has soared by 15%. Some Ships on the Asia-Europe route even need to refuel in Singapore in advance as a precaution. At the same time, congestion has occurred in some ports as many African port infrastructures are unable to meet the sudden increase in shipping demand.
American Cargo News Network reported that since detouring to Africa will lead to a significant increase in shipping time and costs, many shipping companies are still unwilling to make diversions. However, due to factors such as continued tensions in the Red Sea and rising shipping premiums in the Middle East, the future will More and more ships are choosing to detour around Africa, which will have an impact on the global supply chain and bring uncertainty to the economies of many countries.
