The NGFA signed an open letter calling on
countries to align with a mission to support safe maritime commerce in the Red
Sea, where terrorist attacks have caused more than $80 billion in cargo to be
diverted around the Cape of Good Hope.
More than 100 organizations whose members
depend on safe and secure ocean shipping routes signed the Feb. 8 letter to
encourage global participation in initiatives such as Operation Prosperity
Guardian, a multinational security initiative with at least 23 participating
countries.
The Red Sea moves 30 percent of the
world’s trade, including food, energy, clothing, shoes, electronics, and
medicine. Traveling around the Cape of Good Hope, where attacks have been
increasing in frequency, adds at least 2-3 weeks of travel and hundreds of
thousands in additional fuel and labor costs compared to traveling through the
Suez Canal.
“Route changes are causing port
congestion, equipment shortages, and soaring shipping rates across the globe,
all of which create inflationary impacts,” the letter states. “Even shipping
lanes on the other side of the world from the Red Sea are beginning to be
adversely affected.”
These route changes cause incalculable
ripple effects for agriculture and other industries that depend on maritime
commerce, the letter notes, especially because global transportation is already
strained from reduced access to the drought-ridden Panama Canal.
“It is imperative that governments unite
behind a zero-tolerance approach to deter attacks on commercial vessels and
seafarers in the Red Sea, and anywhere in the world,” states the letter. “This
is truly a global problem that demands the participation and support of all
nations that rely on global trade.”
Read more about the ripple effects of
shipping lane disruptions on U.S. agriculture in this
article
by Sandro Steinbach, Yasin Yildirim, and Xiting Zhuang from farmdoc daily.