The Red Sea crisis fermented, and the container capacity fell by 20 last month, and the weekly freig

The Red Sea shipping crisis has disrupted the global ** chain, with detours and diversions leading to soaring costs, as well as shipping delays and capacity shortages.

The average cost of shipping a 40-foot container worldwide has nearly doubled since the end of November, according to data from consulting firm Drewry Shipping Consultants, as reported on Wednesday.

Over the past two weeks, transport costs that used to use the Suez Canal route have accelerated**. In the week ended Jan. 4, spot container shipments between China and Rotterdam, the Netherlands, reached $3,577, up 115% from the previous week.

The diversion to Africa not only increases fuel and insurance costs, but also reduces container capacity. According to shipbrokers in Singapore and London,The total volume of container ship traffic in the Red Sea fell by about 20% in December compared to November.

Rising costs have hit importers who have negotiated long-term contracts, and operators are imposing surcharges ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars per container to compensate for rising costs caused by the Red Sea diversion, the analysis said. In addition, some shippers have been exacerbated by the Panama Canal drought, which has limited the number of vessels passing through the waterway.

The Red Sea, as the world's leading artery, has been disrupted, and major shipping giants have been forced to detour through the Cape of Good Hope, resulting in sharp increases in shipping costs, sharp increases in travel times, and weeks-long delays in cargo delivery.

Lars Jensen, CEO of Denmark-based consulting firm Vespucci Maritime, notedThe detour to the Cape of Good Hope has raised fuel and insurance costs and reduced container ship capacity, although the rate increase appears to be much higher than the additional costs required.

Shipping industry executives said pricing and surcharges** were due to higher vessel operating costs, longer voyages, and lower capacity due to vessels spending longer time at sea.

According to Nathan Strang, director of sea freight at Flexport, a freight companyOne customer who shipped goods into the Port of New Orleans doubled the import time to 60 days after the company's cargo was diverted.

With the sharp increase in freight rates, the share prices of shipping companies have risen, with Maersk's share price exceeding 26% and Hapag-Lloyd's share price nearly 40% in the past month.

The Red Sea crisis is likely to continue, with Maersk saying last week that all ships transiting the Red Sea will detour to the Cape of Good Hope in the foreseeable future, and German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd also said its ships will continue to avoid the Red Sea. And according to the **chain risk management company Everstream Analytics data,About one-third of the world's containerized cargo and about 30 percent of its cargo destined for U.S. East Coast ports pass through the Suez Canal.

Jonathan Roach, a container shipping analyst at London-based shipping consultancy Braemar, said:

In the short term, routes will still have to be delayed, transit times will be extended, and freight rates will remain high and fluctuating overall.