Codognotto, a freight transport service company, launched an intermodal mode of transport between China and Milan for continuity of services in the middle of Red Sea disruption. The current situation in the Red Sea is causing unexpected delays and extended travel times on Mediterranean routes. The new train service serves as a complementary and strategic alternative to traditional sea routes and this transport alternative enables Codognotto to utilize its expertise in intermodality, assets, and market coverage to guarantee uninterrupted services.
The new train service has three different departures points in China, Zhenghou, Chengdu, and Xi’an. The route service became effective from January 2024 and transports goods from these departure points every week. The train covers the distance of 11,000km and the transit time is estimated to be 22 days, reaffirming the positive performance of rail transport in terms of lead time. Along with these benefits, the train also serves as a sustainable mode of transport in comparison to others as it contributes to the less CO2 emissions.
Codognotto offers flexibility to its customers and leverages experience of its partners in China to evaluate the best departure hub and the safest route for the transit. Additionally, the company also offers analysis and consultancy services to determine the most convenient mode of transport in this critical area.
Red Sea is one of the world’s most densely packed shipping channels, that lies south of the Suez Canal, and this served as the most significant waterway connecting Europe to Asia and east Africa. The Red Sea crisis causes delays which can affect petrol prices, the availability of electronics and other aspects of global trade since almost 12% of global trade passes through the Red Sea, including 30% of global container traffic, and billions of dollars of traded goods and supplies pass through the Red Sea every year.
The Red Sea crisis began in October 2023, when Houthi, a Yemeni rebel group backed by Iran, began firing missiles at container ships in the Red Sea in response to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. They have also attacked U.S. and allied warships deployed in the Red Sea. Houthi representatives have indicated that such attacks will continue to target commercial vessels until Israel declares a ceasefire in Gaza. The situation remains tense, however no one has been killed until now.
Due to the ongoing threats that have escalated further in the past week, many prominent sea freight providers like Maersk, MSC and others have halted or rerouted traffic, while the US has announced a maritime coalition to defend shipping against attacks. BP also halted all shipments of oil and gas through the region.
According to Kuehne + Nagel, currently, there are 199 vessels impacted by the Red Sea situation. The total capacity is estimated at 2.6m TEU. Therefore, prominent sea freight service providers like Kuehne + Nagel, DHL Global Forwarding, and DB Schenker have diverted their vessels to sale via the Cape of Good Hope to protect the safety of crew members, cargo, and the vessel. Due to this diversion, an additional transit time of 2 weeks will be added to the transit time. Many shipping lines also continue to sail their ships around Africa. However, sailing schedules are being updated in accordance with the situation at sea and Kuehne + Nagel regularly provides a list of diverted vessels based on the latest vessel tracking data.
According to the recent survey done by Transport Intelligence, 11.2% companies have switched their mode of transport from sea to rail, 17.2% have switched to air and 12.1% companies have shifted their mode of transport to land. Approximately 20% global shippers are even trying combination of sea / land or air / sea to transport the goods.
As per the current situation, it becomes very important for global shippers to look for alternatives to transport their goods, as this is impacting the global trade. Among many solutions such as rerouting and halting, switching modes of transport and not stick to sea freight serves as the best option as global trade may get delayed but does not comes to an immediate stop.
Author: Meghna Mishra
Source: Ti Insights
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