Rome 2 April As the Middle East conflict threatens vital maritime channels and ports, sending food, fuel, fertilizer and other key prices soaring, WFP Shipping Chief Henrik Hansen explains how we are working 24\/7 to reduce rising costs and transit times, and find creative transportation workarounds to reach millions of vulnerable people
\nEven as the Middle East crisis triggers shipping bottlenecks, rerouting and higher costs, WFP is negotiating lower prices and preferential humanitarian access.
\nCan you give us a snapshot of the challenges in shipping food aid today?
\nFrom my perspective, we\u2019re facing the most disruptive period in global shipping since the COVID-19 pandemic and the (2023) Red Sea crisis. Multiple trade routes are affected simultaneously, which is slowing deliveries, pushing up costs, and making shipping schedules far less reliable.
\nA major factor is the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the only maritime gateway for all ports inside the Persian Gulf. Cargo is now diverted or delayed in ports like Salalah in Oman, or Colombo, Sri Lanka. Gulf ports that previously served as transshipment hubs are disrupted. Many vessels are also avoiding the Bab el-Mandeb Strait (a strategic Red Sea corridor) for precautionary reasons, rerouting instead around the Cape of Good Hope. Additionally, carriers are introducing steep surcharges for containers and freights, including war-risk premiums on top of already elevated freight rates.
\n“Vessel schedules change at short notice, WFP cargo gets delayed or stuck in transshipment hubs, and costs keep rising…Despite this, we’re adapting.” \u2013 WFP Shipping Chief Henrik Hansen
\nUnpredictability is our biggest issue. Vessel schedules change at short notice, WFP cargo gets delayed or stuck in transshipment hubs, and costs keep rising. Despite this, we\u2019re adapting: finding new land corridors, adjusting routing strategies, and working around bottlenecks to keep food assistance moving to the people who need it.
\nWhat does this all mean for hungry people?
\nThe impact goes well beyond disrupted shipping routes and rising freight rates. Prices across the entire supply chain feed into higher operational expenses \u2013 reducing how much food WFP can buy, ship and deliver. The result is simple but devastating; we can\u2019t reach as many people with either food or cash-based interventions. Those we do reach may get smaller rations, or may buy less food at markets because of rising prices.
\nCommunities already facing severe food insecurity are hardest hit by global shipping disruptions thousands of kilometres away. That\u2019s what keeps me up at night.
\nWhich countries are most affected?<\/p>\n
The most vulnerable people – like this woman receiving lean season food assistance in Burkina Faso – are among the most impacted by the fallout of the Middle East crisis.
\nTo be honest, the impact is global. That said Sudan, where the supply chain was already extremely fragile, faces among the most immediate impacts. With many vessels now avoiding Bab el-Mandeb Strait, alternative routes can add weeks to travel times and significantly increase costs. We\u2019re seeing similar transport disruptions for some of our other operations in East and Southern Africa, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya and Ethiopia. Like Sudan, they all rely heavily on long maritime supply chains from Asia and the Gulf Region.
\nWest Africa is also feeling the strain. Ports like Dakar (Senegal), Tema (Ghana) and Abidjan (C\u00f4te d’Ivoire) are all experiencing longer lead times because of delayed shipments from Asia and the Middle East. This affects our ability to preposition food ahead of lean seasons and reduces predictability for some of the most food-insecure countries in the Sahel.
\nFor Asian countries like Afghanistan and Myanmar, delays in global shipping flows are slowing down imports of both humanitarian aid and essential commodities. Those wider market disruptions are reducing local availability and quickly increasing the prices of staples \u2013 which directly affects the people we serve.
\nWhat solutions is WFP finding, first in negotiating shipping access?
\nAt the moment, securing shipping access is extremely challenging. Many transshipment hubs are full, vessels are overbooked, and many carriers have stopped accepting new bookings into the Middle East region altogether.
\nNonetheless, WFP has managed to keep cargo moving. We\u2019re benefitting from the years of strong relationships we\u2019ve built across the shipping and freight forwarding industries. Carriers, shipowners, freight forwarders and port operators are giving WFP priority treatment, recognizing the critical, lifesaving nature of our shipments. That\u2019s a key reason we\u2019ve been able to secure space when commercial cargo cannot.
\nWFP and UNICEF have also successfully negotiated waivers for many of the recent shipping surcharges on behalf of all United Nations agencies. Even so, our preliminary analysis shows WFP still faces a roughly 18 percent cost increase in transporting cargo currently at sea.
\nHow is WFP rerouting stranded food aid?<\/p>\n
WFP is finding land routes and other workarounds to deliver food aid to vulnerable people in places like Afghanistan.
\nFor us, the first step is always to source food as close as possible to where it\u2019s needed. That reduces transit times, cuts exposure to disrupted corridors, and helps keep costs under control. But in the current environment, proximity alone isn\u2019t enough \u2014 we need multiple backup plans for every route. We\u2019re constantly developing contingencies to keep cargo moving from Point A to Point B.
\nFor example, we\u2019re trucking cargo from the United Arab Emirates to T\u00fcrkiye, where it can be shipped on more reliably. That\u2019s especially critical for aid headed to Afghanistan. With the Pakistan and Iran corridors currently closed, one of the only viable remaining routes continues overland from T\u00fcrkiye across the Caucasus through Georgia. From there, our cargo is shipped across the Caspian Sea into Central Asia, then trucked to northern Afghanistan. It\u2019s a long, multi-country chain, but right now it\u2019s one of our few reliable corridors.
\n“We\u2019ve lived through this before. After COVID-19, it took almost a full year before global shipping networks started functioning normally.”-WFP Shipping Chief Henrik Hansen
\nWe\u2019re applying the same adaptive approach across all regions \u2013 finding different ways to ship cargo more quickly, and looking at workarounds by land. The goal is always the same: maintain the flow of food, even when maritime networks are shifting daily.
\nAnd honestly, this has always been the rhythm of my day. I\u2019m on the phone constantly, with freight companies, shipowners, terminals, carriers, WFP country offices and colleagues across our network testing ideas, troubleshooting bottlenecks and redesigning routes in real time.
\nLooking ahead, can WFP\u2019s operations recover quickly if the Middle East crisis ends soon \u2013 and what happens if not?
\nEven if the situation in the Middle East stabilizes tomorrow, it won\u2019t be an immediate recovery. There is already a huge backlog of cargo sitting in congested transshipment hubs, waiting for vessels, space, or access to move. That will take time to untangle \u2013 anywhere between 1-5 months, according to shipping company estimates. I\u2019d say the reality is probably somewhere in the middle.
\nIf the crisis continues for months, it means even higher costs and more delays \u2013 making it harder and more expensive to keep pipelines steady, and ultimately reducing WFP\u2019s food assistance.
\nWe\u2019ve lived through this before. After COVID-19, it took almost a full year before global shipping networks started functioning normally. Containers were stranded in the wrong places, vessel rotations were off schedule, ports were jammed and the ripple effects travelled around the world for months.
\nBut if there\u2019s one thing I\u2019ve learned, it\u2019s that WFP adapts fast. We\u2019ll find new corridors and shift transport modes to keep food moving. The system will eventually recover, it always does. But it won\u2019t be overnight \u2013 even under the best-case scenario. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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