Red Sea Disruption Threatens Higher Prices and Goods Shortages for Antigua & Barbuda

• Disruption to global shipping as cargo carriers avoid the Red Sea could fuel further price hikes and goods scarcities in Antigua and Barbuda within weeks.
• That was the stark warning from local port bosses, just days after a deeply unpopular hike in the sales tax (ABST) came into effect, forcing shoppers to dig even deeper when visiting supermarkets, restaurants, and entertainment spots alike.
• Attacks on ships in the Red Sea have seen freight firms bypass the vital waterway that connects major markets, instead taking the long route around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. Notably, on Friday, the world’s biggest shipping company Maersk, announced it was suspending all Red Sea routes for the “foreseeable future”.
• Port Authority boss, Darwin Telemaque, said the situation was a “major source of concern” for all. “Shipping prices have already started rising,” he told Observer. “The duration for which cargo would arrive from Asia to North America, South America, and the Caribbean has been extended for several lines who have decided to avoid the Suez Canal.
• Telemaque said the problems are being compounded by droughts in the Panama Canal – which serves as a crucial link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans – reducing the number of ships that pass through there each day from around 36 to 18.

(Sources: Antigua Observer)