Transportation Roundup: Governments intervening to provide Red Sea shipping relief

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As Red Sea attacks continue to hamper the global shipping industry, several Asian countries are employing measures to help shippers.

The South Korea Ocean and Fisheries Ministry launched a program to provide a guaranteed 400 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of spot capacity for small and medium sized businesses on sailings leaving South Korea to Europe and the Mediterranean. Cargo owners utilizing long-term contracts will be guaranteed an extra 1,100 TEUs. Carrier HMM also agreed to use four extra loaders to help with the capacity crunch. Read more here.

Meanwhile, the Vietnam Ministry of Transport asked carriers to justify the soaring freight rates to Europe and North America and increase those connections.

In the U.S., parties interested in participating in the Federal Maritime Commission’s public hearing about the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden conditions can submit their request to participate to secretary@fmc.gov. The Feb. 7 hearing will allow stakeholders to communicate with the FMC about the disruptions. Learn more about the hearing and the FMC’s advisory about surcharges here.

Other notable stories:

A story by the New York Times features infographics showing changes in shipping routes since the Houthi attacks.  View the article here.