• 16 locks to lift/lower ships 600 ft. (60 Stories)
• Supports 237,000 jobs
• Third largest collective economy in the world
• $6 Trillion combined regional GDP

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This past weekend, the Central Park tanker, after ignoring an initial threat (by Yemen’s Houthi rebels) was attacked by five Somali pirates but was rescued by the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Mason. After this and two other recent attacks on ships in the region, the container vessel Zim Europe reversed course on Saturday in the Mediterranean to avoid its original route through the Suez Canal and set a 56% longer course around the Cape of Good Hope to Port Klang, Malaysia. (See more at FreightWaves, “Zim Container ships divert as threat to Israel-linked vessels mounts” by Greg Miller, 11/27/2023)

With the regional rainy season expected to end by about mid-December, the Panama Canal experienced an extremely low amount of rain, 41% less than normal for the month of October. This resulted in a historic low water level in Gatun Lake. In order to maintain a competitive depth for ship drafts, the Canal announced new operational measures including a substantial decrease in reservation slots. Recently, the daily transits reservation slots were lowered to 32, but now will be on a reduction schedule to further lower the slots over the next few months reaching down to 18 on February 1. (More at Panama Canal website, https://pancanal.com, press room-News, “The driest month of October since 1950” 10-31-2023)

Reuters reports today the Israeli Port of Ashdod remains open amid intermittent halt of operations “when wailing sirens warn of incoming rockets from Gaza.” Some ships have decided to divert to the port of Haifa in northern Israel resulting in a current 30% drop in port volume. (See more at Reuters, “Israel’s Ashdod port toils under shadow of rockets” by Jonathan Saul, 10/25/2023)

Despite the continued increase in mortgage rates, the median home prices in the U.S. have also climbed almost 3% since a year ago September. While a correction was anticipated as the housing market began to slow down late last year, home values have remained fairly steady with no concerns of a market crash and even expectations of continued rising prices in 2024. Experts explain five reasons for this housing market environment. (See more at yahoo!finance, “Is the housing market going to crash? What experts are saying” Jeff Ostrowski, 10/21/2023)

We are already familiar with how pandemics and war can impact global shipping as we look at past experiences and transport issues resulting from Covid and the Ukraine-Russian war in very recent years. Greg Miller of FreightWaves explains that “The war in Israel, if it expands beyond the country’s borders, poses risks to two key shipping choke points: the Suez Canal, a key waterway for all types of commercial vessels, including container ships, and the Strait of Hormuz, which is pivotal to oil and gas shipping.” (See FreightWaves, “War in Israel: The new geopolitical flashpoint for ocean shipping” by Greg Miller, 10/11/2023)