By Costas Paris April 2, 2020 5:30 am ET Oceangoing shipping companies are keeping commerce moving around the world as governments try to keep their staggering economies propped up and supplies heading to increasingly strained communities.
Newsletter Sign-up The Logistics Report Top news and in-depth analysis on the world of logistics, from supply chain to transport and technology.Many transportation operations, including port cargo handlers and trucking companies and railroads that move goods inland, are considered essential businesses in nations that now are locking down business.
Only tanker operators appear to be weathering the pandemic storm. Crude carriers are on a healthy run as oil importing countries and traders are buying big amounts of oil to replenish strategic reserves and for storage at record low prices. In January “we thought some cargo would be delayed, but things would be OK as ports stayed open,” said the chief executive of a European ship chartering company with a fleet of two dozen vessels. “Now, I have to let go of a quarter of my staff and I don’t know whether I’ll still have a business at the end of April. ”
What could go wrong there? The market can’t even save itself in a crisis.