Major freight companies like MSC, the largest container shipping line globally, announced their intention to avoid the Suez Canal due to the increasing attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea. …Instead of taking the shorter route through the Suez Canal, over 100 container ships have rerouted around southern Africa. This diversion adds approximately 6,000 nautical miles to the typical journey from Asia to Europe, resulting in potential delivery delays of three to four weeks. …Michael Aldwell, of Kuehne and Nagel stated, “the extended time spent on the water is anticipated to absorb 20% of the global fleet capacity, leading to potential delays in the availability of shipping resources. Moreover, delays in returning empty equipment to Asia are likely to pose challenges, further impacting the overall reliability of supply chains.” … In addition to increased costs, softwood import volume from Europe to China will decrease due to the increased freight rate.