July 13, 2021

While it’s comfortable to keep our heads down and stick to our knitting, we live in a global marketplace and that has never been so clear to me, as it has been since COVID-19 and the global pandemic. A freak high wind event apparently caused the Ever Given, a giant container ship transiting the Suez Canal, to blow off course and jam the canal. That happened over 100 days ago.

On July 6^th, an Egyptian court lifted a three-month-long judicial seizure of the Ever Given after the ship blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week earlier this year. Why do we care about a one-week shipping problem that happened half a world away? 

At first, the Suez Canal Authority had demanded $916 million US in compensation, which was eventually lowered to $550 million US. That negotiation seemed to have been what delayed the Ever Given for nearly three months. The money would cover the salvage operation, costs of stalled canal traffic, and lost transit fees for the week the Ever Given had blocked the canal.

Lawyers for the ship’s owners maintained that the costs were unreasonable, but even at $550 million US, a lot of money changed hands on this one. You have to assume that those costs will eventually get passed onto consumers and it was a big bill.

Moreover, the Ever Give was loaded with a vast cargo of goods that were then delayed for over three months and we hear many businesses are waiting on delayed goods. We have heard (but cannot confirm) that the Ever Given cargo included a major shipment from Yamaha. 

That may have had a direct impact on our industry and when the canal was blocked, hundreds of other ships were delayed. Some, turned back and took the long way around, resulting in other delays. Let’s hope that resolution to the Ever Given situation last week helps alleviate our product shortages quickly.

For those who are interested in the global view of the marine industry, I recommend going back to BIC last week, (July 6^th edition) to check out the Research section and the statistics from  
ICOMIA , The International Council of Marine Industry Associations in their Quarterly Economic Statistics Report By Country for 2019 to Quarter 1, 2021.

The download link was still running when I last checked it July 9^th and the data gives an easily understood topline of the boating industry in over 40 different countries. If you are an investor or business who should know the big picture, you can get the full download of the ICOMIA Statistics Book that contains:

• 2020 global data snapshot & an overview of COVID-19 impact on the industry
• Detailed national reports on the industry’s largest market countries
• Global summaries of key product segments from 25 countries
• Export/import data for international trade in boats from 43 countries
• Marine engine statistics from ICOMIA’s Marine Engine Committee (IMEC)
• International Boat Show statistics (courtesy of the International Federation of Boat Show Organizers)
• The Superyacht Shipyards Report (courtesy of The Superyacht Group)
• Industry articles selected by IBI Magazine
• Raw-data Excel spreadsheets to assist those carrying out more detailed research

Knowledge is power…

Andy Adams – Editor