Global trade leader Maersk warned that the interruption of container traffic through the Red Sea will continue until the second half of this year, and goods shipped to the US will experience serious congestion and delays.

Following the Houthis attack on shipping, major container carriers have switched from the Red Sea and the Suez Canal to longer routes around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.

Charles van der Steene (Charles van der Steene), head of Maersk's North America region, said in a statement on Tuesday: “Prepare for the Red Sea situation to continue until the second half of this year, and increase transit time in supply chain planning.”

Maersk said that due to the long route of the ship's detour to southern Africa, the company increased its capacity by about 6% to offset the impact of delays.

The Copenhagen-based company also told customers, which include retail giants such as Walmart and Nike, to prepare for higher supply chain costs, and that longer sailing times are already driving up shipping costs.

Van der Stein said that many customers include unit costs in their budgets, and if this volatility causes a fundamental change in the situation, it could have a significant impact on overall costs.

A statement issued by Maersk on Tuesday said that due to transportation delays, demand in the global air cargo market surged 5% in January compared to 2023, and capacity increased by 12% accordingly.

A J.P. Morgan Chase report in early February showed that spot shipping rates (one-time fees paid by shippers to transport goods at current market prices) have soared in recent weeks due to the Red Sea shipping crisis.

Maersk said that the longer sailing time in various parts of Africa also meant that ships bound for the east coast of the United States would only experience serious delays, and advised customers to consider shipping goods to the east coast in other ports such as Mexico, the Pacific Northwest, and Los Angeles.

In order to reduce the extended transit time caused by the diversion of goods around Cape of Good Hope in Africa, Maersk provides sea and air intermodal transportation services from Asia to Europe via Los Angeles to provide customers with solutions to minimize supply chain delays.

Other shipping giants continue to divert from the Red Sea amid the escalating tension, including Germany's Hapag-Lloyd, which has reaffirmed its decision to continue avoiding the Suez Canal and the Red Sea.

Maersk pointed out that severe congestion in Oakland, California also caused delays in container ships returning to Asia to pick up goods.

Despite the Red Sea crisis and supply chain pressure, Maersk reported strong results for 2023. Affected by falling freight rates, revenue for the year reached $51.1 billion and profit margin before interest and tax was 7.7%.

Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc (Vincent Clerc) said the company needed to see further progress in the logistics business to meet its goals. “The current market is still one of the markets with strong traffic, but although the Red Sea crisis immediately caused capacity restrictions and temporary increases in freight rates, in the end, oversupply of capacity will cause price pressure and affect our performance.”