Global shipping laws break down, threatening trade - FT

Brief retelling from RIA II

Previously established laws regulating global shipping are no longer working, which poses a threat to international trade, writes FT.

The struggle for control of the Strait of Hormuz, the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of the "shadow fleet" are signals of a structural shift in the maritime industry.

MOSCOW, September 8 - RIA Novosti. Previously established laws governing global shipping are no longer working, which poses a threat to international trade, writes the Financial Times (FT), citing the opinion of the informal cooperation of maritime departments of 18 shipping countries, the Consultative Shipping Group (CSG).

"For decades, we have built global trade on the assumption that ships can cross borders freely. Now this assumption is under pressure," Brian Wessel, director general of the Danish Maritime Authority, which heads the CSG, said in a statement.

The shipping industry has been protected for decades by laws ensuring freedom of navigation and the neutrality of commercial ships, and the erosion of these principles poses a serious threat to global trade, according to the Consultative Shipping Group, quoted in the Financial Times.

"The rules governing global shipping are breaking down due to war and the growth of shadow fleets that operate outside Western control, the world's largest maritime powers warn," the article explains.

The struggle for control of the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and the US, Covid, as well as the so-called “shadow fleet” formed as a result of sanctions from the US, EU and UK, are not episodic shocks, but signals of a structural shift, CSG notes.