There isn’t a single aspect in our lives that hasn’t been affected by the Novel Coronavirus. Everything that we see around us, businesses, schools, traffic, malls, etc have been affected in some form or another by the virus. It has gotten the world to its knees. The shipping industry has also taken the brunt of the situation like everything else.
Let’s have a look at exactly how the shipping industry was affected and what is in store for it in the future.
Safety measures
Every country has been taking its own safety measures to fight the virus and to slow down the spread. These safety measures directly affect the volume of the ships coming into a port and also leaving it. Since most of the ports around the world traded directly with China, they have had to send back most of the ships coming from Chinese ports. Quarantine measures being applied to the crew arriving on such ports have also caused a major setback to the movement of ships across ports. The workforce at all the ports has also had to be reduced to almost 1/3rd of its original numbers to adhere to social distancing and safety measures. This automatically slows down a lot of work of every manner on the ports.
Demand and Supply
With governments all over the world suggesting and enforcing home quarantines to its citizens, their demand for a lot of products, except essentials, has been on a forever low. Since the demand is on a low, the products are not being manufactured in the first place. Cargo ships and freights do not leave port till the time they are not carrying a certain capacity, thus they are delaying and reducing their trips altogether.
Solutions to the Current situations
It was more than necessary to work towards a solution to save the many businesses and ports from being shut down completely due to the worsening situation. Government help is the first and most effective solution in this matter. Government strategies and monetary relief plans are helping citizens with their business. Even though businesses will not be able to enjoy the same profit margins as before, it was essential to decrease the loss percentage in the financial equations. Financial advisors from https://shippingvegas.com/ are laying stress on optimizing the shipping patterns in terms of volume and demand to decrease the overall loss percentage. Trying to simply balance out the supply with respect to the demand while keeping the running capital in mind could just be what the industry needs.
The future
The future of the shipping industry is not a mystery. It is still playing an important role in supplying essential goods to countries in need. Once the virus stops being a threat in the near future, businesses will be booming once more and the docks will be working overtime to cover up for the losses encountered these days.
Even though things might look grim for this industry at the moment, it is merely a passing phase and the future is more than bright for it. An essential part of globalization and industrialization, the shipping industry will always be one of the fastest industries to recover from the effects of this virus.
