Shipping authorities warn maritime trade heading for breakdown
Shipping authorities warn that wars, disruption and a shadow fleet are undermining rules that keep global trade moving, risking higher prices and delays.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Shipping authorities have issued a stark warning that maritime trade is heading for breakdown because of ongoing wars, uncertainty and disruption. The Consultative Shipping Group, which represents about a fifth of global shipping trade, said that if maritime trade cannot operate normally, the global economy as we know it would come to a sudden halt.
In an interview, the group's chair, Brian Wessel, said global shipping depends on rules that protect safety, the environment and a level playing field around the world. He said the last couple of years had shown a lack of respect for those rules, which were slowly being undermined. "In the end can hurt the trade of the world," he added.
Wessel said the group was not predicting an imminent halt, but warned that if the rules came under pressure, consumers would notice higher prices, slower deliveries and, eventually, goods not getting through to certain countries. He pointed to the growth of a "parallel fleet" of tankers operating outside normal rules, which he said now accounted for around 20% of all tankers worldwide. This fleet, he said, lacked protections for safety, seafarers and the environment.
Asked about Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz and charging tolls, Wessel declined to comment on that specific case but said examples of freedom of navigation being ignored could trigger an "avalanche" of further disregard for the rules. He said the group was speaking out now because "we don't need any more avalanches."
The warning comes as global supply chains already face disruption from conflicts in the Red Sea and elsewhere, and as sanctions on Russian oil have led to the creation of a large shadow fleet. Wessel said the lack of respect for the civilian fleet and for international rules was a great risk to the rules-based order that trade depends on.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 4 |
|---|---|
| Around 20% of the world's tankers operate in a parallel system without normal safety and environmental rules. | |
| The Consultative Shipping Group represents about a fifth of global shipping trade. | |
| The Consultative Shipping Group warned that if maritime trade cannot operate normally, the global economy would come to a sudden halt. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Channel 4 focused on the interview with the chair of the Consultative Shipping Group, drawing out the practical consequences for consumers and the wider economy. The tone was urgent but measured, with the presenter pressing for concrete examples of what breakdown would look like. The channel highlighted the shadow fleet and the erosion of international rules as the core problem.
- “Global shipping is a necessity for global trade and free trade. And global shipping depends on global rules that protect safety, environment but also a level playing field around the world.”
- “we have around 20% of all tankers in the world in a parallel system without rules that protect the safety of the ships and the seafarers, the environment and this level of playing field.”
- “if these rules, the freedom of navigation is not respected, if the civilian fleet cannot transport goods around the world freely, then slowly we are undermining the rules.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.