00:00Tom Bartoszak-Harlow is Director of Communications at the International Chamber of Shipping.
00:06Tom, thank you so much for joining us.
00:08Has non-oil cargo shipping, Maersk in particular, actually benefited from the Gulf instability?
00:15So I think what you're actually seeing from the results that Maersk have announced today
00:20is the importance of shipping to the global economy.
00:2390% of everything we use, we consume, is moved by ships such as Maersk.
00:29And I think that's what you're seeing in the results today.
00:32Clearly, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has had impact on particular elements of shipping.
00:37You were talking about another company's results there.
00:40But I do think it shows that shipping is generally quite resilient.
00:44Even when there is that geopolitical instability,
00:47we're still able to move the things around that the global economy depends on.
00:51And I think there's been so much focus on the impact on the movement of oil
00:55because it's so critical for global economies.
00:58But the truth is, very little cargo, apart from oil, is my understanding,
01:02goes through the Strait of Hormuz.
01:04Nevertheless, if we look at Hapag-Lloyd, they also don't move oil.
01:09They were hit harder than Maersk. Why?
01:13Yeah, so, I mean, they'll have their own individual reasons for that.
01:16It's not for me to speculate on those sorts of things.
01:19But as you highlight, different companies have different exposures to different situations in part of the world.
01:24The Strait of Hormuz, the attacks we've seen in the Red Sea,
01:27have undoubtedly caused an impact across the global shipping community.
01:31We run a recent survey of shipping leaders which showed that geopolitical uncertainty is their number one concern at the
01:38moment,
01:38and that's clearly impacting results across the shipping industry.
01:42The better for some, the worse for others.
01:44So, I've got to ask, for your shipping forecast, are we smooth sailing from here,
01:49choppy waters ahead, particularly if the instability in the Gulf region continues?
01:55So, it's clearly a really uncertain time for shipping at the moment.
01:59We're seeing continued attacks in the Middle East, in the Red Sea,
02:02and that's not generating confidence in the shipping industry that it's going to be smooth sailing ahead.
02:08But it is a very resilient industry.
02:10The seafarers that work in it are resilient.
02:12They work to deliver that 90% of everything that we consume across the world,
02:17and I'm confident that the shipping industry will continue to do that,
02:20whatever challenges are put in front of it.
02:23We all hope we return to smoother sailing as soon as possible,
02:26and we see the attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, in the Strait of Hormuz,
02:31stop as soon as possible, because that's going to bring confidence back to the industry,
02:35and hopefully see more positive results in the future.
02:37And which areas or regions are you looking at in terms of where the demand is really growing?
02:44So, you're seeing that demand is growing in the major economies of the world, the US, Europe,
02:49and that's in part why some of the issues in the Middle East are so serious.
02:53Things such as the transit through the Red Sea, if you don't go through the Red Sea,
02:57you've got to go around the bottom of Africa.
02:59That's adding costs to products that are being transported to those parts of the world,
03:04and we need to see that stop as soon as possible so we can return to safer waters for everyone.
03:09Just finally, on Maersk, can we say that this company moved quicker than perhaps other cargo shippers
03:18to capitalise on the crisis and perhaps to avoid further problems?
03:23So, I think one of the things I know Maersk have done is they were very quick to respond
03:27to looking at how they needed to move cargo in and out of the Strait of Hormuz in the region
03:32without necessarily putting it through on vessels.
03:35And I think if you look at what some of their comments they've made today
03:38around making sure that there's investment in wider logistics networks at ports, rail, roads,
03:44to ensure that cargo can move seamlessly, that's a really important point.
03:48And I think the more we see that investment across the world, the less impact we'll then have
03:53when there's these geopolitical incidents that do mean ships are put under threat
03:57and can't travel through certain parts of the world.
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