Bananas grown in Ecuador, coffee from Brazil, and a t-shirt made in Bangladesh. As the world has become increasingly globalized and economically integrated since the 1980s, it is now rather the rule than the exception to find items in our households that come from other parts of the world. This becomes most clear when we walk into a mall, a clothing store, or a grocery store, where we can find all sorts of goods that have been produced elsewhere and transported from overseas: such as fruits, vegetables, grains, or clothes and shoes.
Ocean shipping has been called ”the backbone of global trade”, since it carries a gross amount of at least 80 percent of global trade volume. Total cargo volume has even doubled since the 1990s—a fact that can be used to illustrate how trade across oceans has rapidly increased over just a few decades. This can also be seen when looking into the sale of specific commodities and their production, such as bananas— one of the most widely sold goods worldwide, shipped from countries such as Ecuador to destinations all over the world. In 1961 the global production of bananas was approximately 22.4 million tonnes per year, while in 2022, the number had increased to 135 million tonnes. This substantial increase can be attributed to a growing global demand, improved global export markets, and technological developments.
Particularly, the vast increase in shipped commodities has largely been tied to the information and communications technology (ICT) revolution that also occurred during the 1990s. Advancements in ICT greatly enhanced infrastructure, allowing for improved navigation and thus fostering stronger connections between people, companies, and shipping services. The dramatic increase in shipping over the past 30 years has transformed the industry into a major global employer, with its welfare regulated by cross-continental oversight organizations, namely the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Labor Organization (ILO).
Safety—including biosafety, which refers to human and environmental safety when it comes to biological risks, as well as pollution and maritime security are a few of the responsibilities that are central to the IMO and its conduct. There are, however, multiple other escalating threats facing the maritime industry— such as increasing geopolitical tensions and climate-related issues like rising sea levels and extreme weather conditions causing stormy seas. The potential consequences of these threats become even more evident when looking at the impact that they have had on the Suez and Panama Canals.
A whopping 12-15 percent of global trade was estimated to have passed through the Suez Canal in 2023. The Suez Canal, along with the Panama Canal, is one of the world’s two largest canals. Completed as far back as 1869, the Suez Canal allows for a shorter and more time-efficient maritime route between Asia and Europe by connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The Panama Canal is also a maritime shortcut and is situated in Central America. It can be described as a waterway that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific, and in 2007 it was expanded to handle even the largest ship vessels through a $5.25 billion project.
In early 2024, the UN Body for Trade and Development, UNCTAD, raised an alarm concerning worrisome disruptions of global trade following issues related to climate change and contemporary conflicts, such as the crisis in the Red Sea in October 2023 that was connected to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories. The Panama Canal has also been severely impacted by droughts and a lack of rainfall, especially in the dry seasons. In November 2023, the droughts led to lower water levels in the nearby Gatún Lake, which severely impacted the flow of the canal and how many ships were able to pass through per day. The reason behind this occurrence is that the Panama Canal is dependent on water supply from the lake to keep operations afloat.
The disruptions have been detrimental to time management and the industry’s ability to meet expectations, while also harming the environment and contributing to increased pollution. This is because ships have been forced to take alternative routes, such as going around the South American continent, to reach their final destination. Amidst the Red Sea Crisis, around 95 % of the ships were forced to reroute and go around the tip of South Africa, and it was estimated that this would lead to 162,727 extra tons of emissions per day. In the everyday lives of world citizens, the implications of these fluctuations can be exemplified by ramping food and energy prices, as was seen during the pandemic and in 2022 amid Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. In their article from early 2024, the UNCTAD additionally suggests that there is a need to potentially reshape global trade dynamics into something that is more adaptable and resilient to sudden fluctuations of this nature.
Although this article may consist of what many might consider common knowledge or a topic that many have heard about before, it may still be important to be reminded from time to time that there is a huge machinery behind the exports of imported commodities and that the world is in many ways interconnected. It is also, of course, important to consider what implications the global shipping industry may have on the environment and what has been done to ensure its continuous welfare, whilst mitigating the risk of climate change. Some may even find it interesting to ponder where commodities, such as bananas, come from, how far they have traveled, and what obstacles they may have met to end up in our fridges. Next time your package is delayed, can it be due to anything that you have seen on the news recently? Perhaps this is a way for us to further remind ourselves of our widely globalized world.
By Moa Gustafsson
December 3, 2024
