THE 'rushed and fragmented' reaction by governments to the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 is a major threat to the global supply chain, warn international transport organizations and unions representing road, air, and sea transport, reports IHS Media
The responses, which include flight cancellations, crew change suspensions, and new quarantine rules, heap greater uncertainty on a supply chain already stretched to the limit by ongoing high demand in key markets and congestion-induced cuts to air and ocean capacity that have kept rates at record levels for much of the past year.
Labelling the global response to the new variant as a 'knee-jerk' reaction and a collective failure to learn from lessons of the past, the organisations - which represent US$20 trillion of world trade annually and 65 million global transport workers - called for a globally coordinated approach in a joint statement issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the International Road Transport Union (IRU), and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF).
International supply chains depend on the regular rotation of a massive global workforce of seafarers and air crew, but the curbs on cross-border movement and crew change restrictions have increased the challenges of staffing ships and planes at a time when all available capacity has been deployed.
In a scathing response, Guy Platten, secretary general of the ICS, said in the statement that the global response to Omicron 'feels like Groundhog Day for our transport sectors. There is a real and legitimate fear that unless coordinated action is taken by world leaders, we will see a return to the peak of the crew change crisis in 2020 where more than 400,000 seafarers were impacted by unnecessarily harsh travel restrictions.
'Our transport workers have worked tirelessly for the past two years throughout the pandemic to keep the global supply chain moving, and they are at breaking point.'
The Port of Singapore, the world's busiest container shipping transshipment hub and one of the world's main crew change venues, has temporarily suspended crew changes and crew vaccinations as a result of the new variant, and restricted entry of ships from Africa.
The impact of travel bans and uncoordinated pandemic control measures on air crew has been equally severe. For instance, in Hong Kong, the world's busiest air cargo hub prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, strict measures imposed in the city have created havoc with airline staffing.
Willie Walsh, director general of IATA, has long been a vocal critic of the measures taken by governments to restrict travel, and he reiterated his association's position in the joint statement.
'After nearly two years of dealing with Covid-19, we should have progressed beyond these knee-jerk, uncoordinated, Pavlovian-like responses,' he noted. 'Border restrictions that block air crew from doing their jobs will do nothing to prevent this while inflicting serious harm to still-recovering global supply chains and local economies.'
Bruce Chan, senior analyst for global logistics and future mobility equity research at investment bank Stifel, said in a market update this week that whatever the epidemiological impact, the rise of the new variant would keep air cargo capacity tighter and rates higher for longer.
He noted that Omicron - and potential future variants - would continue to restrict the air cargo network because of safety protocols, episodic infections, and variations in national and municipal responses. At the same time, it will delay a return to pre-pandemic international business travel, slowing the return of belly cargo capacity that is urgently needed on core trade lanes.
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The responses, which include flight cancellations, crew change suspensions, and new quarantine rules, heap greater uncertainty on a supply chain already stretched to the limit by ongoing high demand in key markets and congestion-induced cuts to air and ocean capacity that have kept rates at record levels for much of the past year.
Labelling the global response to the new variant as a 'knee-jerk' reaction and a collective failure to learn from lessons of the past, the organisations - which represent US$20 trillion of world trade annually and 65 million global transport workers - called for a globally coordinated approach in a joint statement issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the International Road Transport Union (IRU), and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF).
International supply chains depend on the regular rotation of a massive global workforce of seafarers and air crew, but the curbs on cross-border movement and crew change restrictions have increased the challenges of staffing ships and planes at a time when all available capacity has been deployed.
In a scathing response, Guy Platten, secretary general of the ICS, said in the statement that the global response to Omicron 'feels like Groundhog Day for our transport sectors. There is a real and legitimate fear that unless coordinated action is taken by world leaders, we will see a return to the peak of the crew change crisis in 2020 where more than 400,000 seafarers were impacted by unnecessarily harsh travel restrictions.
'Our transport workers have worked tirelessly for the past two years throughout the pandemic to keep the global supply chain moving, and they are at breaking point.'
The Port of Singapore, the world's busiest container shipping transshipment hub and one of the world's main crew change venues, has temporarily suspended crew changes and crew vaccinations as a result of the new variant, and restricted entry of ships from Africa.
The impact of travel bans and uncoordinated pandemic control measures on air crew has been equally severe. For instance, in Hong Kong, the world's busiest air cargo hub prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, strict measures imposed in the city have created havoc with airline staffing.
Willie Walsh, director general of IATA, has long been a vocal critic of the measures taken by governments to restrict travel, and he reiterated his association's position in the joint statement.
'After nearly two years of dealing with Covid-19, we should have progressed beyond these knee-jerk, uncoordinated, Pavlovian-like responses,' he noted. 'Border restrictions that block air crew from doing their jobs will do nothing to prevent this while inflicting serious harm to still-recovering global supply chains and local economies.'
Bruce Chan, senior analyst for global logistics and future mobility equity research at investment bank Stifel, said in a market update this week that whatever the epidemiological impact, the rise of the new variant would keep air cargo capacity tighter and rates higher for longer.
He noted that Omicron - and potential future variants - would continue to restrict the air cargo network because of safety protocols, episodic infections, and variations in national and municipal responses. At the same time, it will delay a return to pre-pandemic international business travel, slowing the return of belly cargo capacity that is urgently needed on core trade lanes.
SeaNews Turkey
