Shares in shipping operators have jumped on the prospect of higher freight rates as a likely prolonged blockage of the Suez Canal forced industry executives to consider lengthy alternative routes for their vessels.
China’s Cosco Shipping and South Korea’s Hyundai Merchant Marine led the stock price surge in Asia on Friday with almost 10 per cent increases after salvage experts indicated it could take weeks to dislodge the 400-metre Ever Given container ship from the banks of the Suez Canal.
Shipping companies were contemplating whether to reroute cargo around Africa, which would add at least seven days and significant costs to journeys. James Wroe, head of liner operations at Maersk Asia Pacific, wrote on social media that the decision was a “roll of the dice”.