More shipment delays as Russia, Ukraine conflict continues

Delays in the shipment of  goods are on the horizon for Jamaica as the Ukraine-Russian conflict continues.

CEO of  Kingston Wharves, Mark Williams, says shipping disruptions are inevitable. 

The Covid-19 pandemic caused tremendous supply chain issues which led to delays and a surge in shipping costs over the past two years. 

Mr Williams laments that some of  the world's largest movers of  cargo recently made decisions which will impact Jamaica negatively. 

“It’s an issue of every increasing cost, more delayed timings - two of the world’s largest shipping lines have announced that they have suspended services to and from Russia. The ripple effect will continue to be great.”

 He added that  the worsening situation concerning shipments will continue for an indefinite period. 

“We’re in the middle of what I call a perfect storm - we’re just getting out of the pandemic. China is still closing ports, issues in the US with their contract negotiations and now this war in Ukraine. There will be continued delays - we have to look at secondary markets,” he said.