It is incredible to think about the COVID-19 ripple effect and how it has devastated industries globally. Until I read this article, I didn’t even consider how food and supplies were getting to the local grocery store. The global supply chain that goes from manufacturing to shipping to warehousing, trucking, then into merchant stores is mind-boggling, just like Amazon, FedEx, and UPS. The level of sophisticated logistics is truly amazing when you stop and think about it. This article includes commentary from Victor Restis, a Greek shipping magnate, who seems to have his finger on the pulse of what shipping companies endured during the first few weeks and months of the coronavirus pandemic. I would love to know how they maintained reliable transoceanic movement of supplies and into the hands of citizens from every nation. If the shipping industry experienced failures, they were most certainly fixed quickly. Other than certain personal hygiene supplies, there was never a fear of food shortages or needed medical supplies. The scarcity we did experience is due to hoarders and those looking to buy up all the supplies then re-sell them to people at a 500% mark-up. Those people should be fined and jailed for taking advantage.
Restis said that there was difficulty changing out crews because of COVID-19, which most likely led to many delays in shipping and receiving routs. Thankfully they seemed to iron that out.
It is hard to believe that 80% of world trade volume transports by sea. I suppose it is more cost-efficient and safer on the environment than shipping by air, not to mention that those huge cargo ships can carry much more volume than a cargo plane. Though I imagine they are at higher risk of being negatively affected by weather patterns and sea pirates (yes, these still exist today – mostly near Somalian waters).
I am a bit discouraged by the accusations of the World Health Organization being in the pocket of the Chinese communist government. It certainly does not surprise me as I firmly believe there is a layer of corruption in every government, but saddened that such a well-respected global agency like the WHO would succumb to payoffs and cover-ups (these are all alleged). I would love to hear how supply chains could be diversified in order to eliminate the single point of failure in our current set-up. China holding many of the cards does not seem to be an ideal structure. That is way too much power for any government to hold over the citizens, and there needs to be a fair distribution of service across each continent.
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