LONDON, August 17. /TASS/. Conflicts and climate change have led to a sharp rise in the cost of maritime and river transportation along key routes, including the Panama Canal, the Rhine, and the Red and Black Seas, the Financial Times (FT) reported, citing analysts.

According to the price reporting agency Argus, the impact of conflicts, specifically the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz along with prolonged droughts in Europe and Latin America, has led to a record surge in rates across key routes. These include the Panama Canal, the Rhine, and the Red and Black Seas. For the latter two, freight rates for tankers bound for the Mediterranean hit their highest level in two decades this week.

Last week freight rates for transporting oil from the Persian Gulf to Asia reached $15.22 per barrel, the highest level since Argus began tracking rates in 2005. Average spot freight rates for container shipments from Asian countries to US East Coast ports soared by 234% year-on-year, exceeding $10,200 per standard 40-foot container (12.19 m long, 2.44 m wide, and 2.59 m high).

The effects of the El Nino phenomenon, which causes water temperatures in the equatorial Pacific to rise above normal levels, have led to a drop in water levels in the Panama Canal. For this reason, and due to a surge in demand driven by the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, the average cost of daily auction slots for canal passage rose to a record $1.1-2.5 mln in August, the FT said.

"This is without doubt the single greatest disruption that the shipping market has seen on record, eclipsing the Covid pandemic <…>," said John Ollett, head of Europe freight pricing at Argus.

"The disruption caused by war in the Middle East is becoming a deep-set and structural problem that will not go away any time soon," Peter Sand, chief analyst at analytics company Xeneta, said, adding that costs would be passed through the supply chain.