Severe drought has caused water levels in the Mississippi River to drop so low that ships have been running aground. To keep commerce flowing, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is now using a dredge ship to push out silt in the river near Vicksburg. The chief of navigation for the corps told local media the low water level can cause a major financial impact.
In October 2021, 109 containers were washed overboard during a rare, so-called"bomb cyclone" off Vancouver Island, Canada."We firmly believe that climate change poses a great threat to the shipping industry and the consumer overall We are definitely seeing disruption, disruption happening all the time," said Narin Phol, Maersk's President for North America.
The impacts of climate change on ports alone, from damage to disruption, could cost the shipping industry up to $10 billion annually by 2050 and up to $25 billion by 2100, according to the RTI study, which was reviewed by the Environmental Defense Fund. "The technology, you could say, it's ready, it's there. But it's a major shift that is needed, And it will take a lot of time," said Hakan Agnevall, CEO of Wartsila, a global technology and energy company that builds engines for the marine industry.