On the morning of February 21, a cargo ship rammed a bridge in Guangzhou, China — one of the world's busiest seaports — causing the structure to partially collapse. This type of accident in a place where a significant portion of East-West trade passes can have costly consequences for maritime trade. Fortunately, on this occasion, the incident didn't cause any delays for shipping.

International maritime routes are already facing plenty of obstacles as it is. Shipping, the means of transport for more than 80% of global goods, is dealing with piracy in Asian and African waters, and also struggling with the effects of armed conflict and low water levels.

Two of the world's three most important artificial waterways are not fully navigable at present: the Suez Canal in Egypt, due to attacks on freighters in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Houthi rebels linked to the Israel-Hamas war, and the Panama Canal in Central America, because of persistently low water levels.

The two canals are........

© Deutsche Welle