RISKS of a Suez Canal closure or slowdown can be
minimised for Asia-US east coast services by increasing speed to 22 knots and
going around the Cape of Good Hope, says a report from London's Drewry Maritime
Research.
Egyptian civil strife has threatened the Suez Canal with
disruption for more than a year and the waterway now lives with the threat of
terrorism from the ousted Muslim Brotherhood and its political rivals.
According to Drewry's, sudden closure could be managed,
albeit at an extra cost, by going around the Cape with ship speeds rising to 22
knots, but well within their top cruising speed of 24 - 25 knots. Speeds have
been reduced in recent years through slow-steaming to cut fuel burn.
But as it stands, the latest canal transit times average
12-16 hours using its convoy system, which moves at between 11 and 16 knots.
The Mediterranean is not exactly a speedway.
Trade through the Suez continued to be upbeat since
re-routing of vessels from Panama since May when Asian volumes were going to
the east coast of North America, the other way around the world.
Source : HKSG.
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