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The unexpected boom in demand for shipping, job losses due to the pandemic and a shortage of containers are pushing global merchant shipping to its limits and jeopardizing the supply of certain goods to Europe.
Ships from the Far East, in particular, are currently so crowded that major shipping companies such as Danish Maersk, France’s CMA CGM or Singapore’s ONE are already rejecting bookings for westbound shipments. At the same time, freight rates are skyrocketing around the world.
On the Shanghai-Rotterdam route, the price of shipping a standard 40-foot container soared 45 percent to more than $ 6,500 in one week, according to London-based research and consulting firm Drewry for SPIEGEL. “These increases are unique,” said Drewry Managing Director Philip Damas.
Transport from China to Great Britain is even more extreme. “A year ago a container cost a good $ 1,000, now it sometimes costs $ 12,000, if you can find a supplier at all,” an industry expert told SPIEGEL. “There is a Brexit panic right now.”
