BACK in 2021, a single ship — the now infamous Ever Given (IMO: 9811000) — blocked the Suez Canal for just six days, costing the global economy billions and disrupting supply chains worldwide.

Last week, the Egyptian foreign minister was moved to contact Lloyd’s List with a message to the shipping industry: please come back to the Suez Canal.

A year of global trade diversions avoiding Houthi rockets has left the Egyptian economy haemorrhaging $800m a month in lost revenue. They are understandably keen to win back the trust of shipping and convince owners that the Red Sea is safe again.

How successful this pitch will be — even with a discount on transit fees — remains to be seen, given the less than convincing words of the Houthis this week. But there is a bigger issue here than just Egypt’s vulnerability.

This whole episode has offered a stark reminder to political leaders globally that never before in history have we been as dependent on the sea as we are today.

The data make it clear: since the 1990s, our use of the sea has been massively accelerating, with maritime trade increasing by 300% and nearly 60% of global oil and gas supplies transported across oceans.

This expansion leads to new threats and vulnerabilities — a message that was being heard loud and clear inside the UN Security Council this week.

The fact the US, China and Russia were locking horns in what was essentially a geopolitical turf war inevitably grabbed the headlines — but what was overlooked in this coverage was that most maritime nations were not in conflict.

The UN Security Council does not usually engage itself in maritime matters, but the way in which most maritime governments attending committed themselves to engaging in matters of maritime security was a remarkably positive step forward, even amid the disintegrating security situation playing out across the oceans right now.

It is also an opportunity that the shipping industry should be grasping with both hands. Maritime security, and the fundamental role that shipping plays in keeping the global economy afloat, is something that should be on everyone’s agenda.

For all the attention that flagless ships and sanctioned skirmishes create, maritime security is poorly served by the current structure of multilateral agencies, so this is also an opportunity to create something new and reset our position in the geopolitical order.

The International Maritime Organization does its best, but the UN system’s approach to maritime security is in desperate need of some recalibration and streamlining.

There is no global strategy and no co-ordination instrument. More than 22 UN agencies address aspects of maritime security under different mandates. This includes what we call the “Big Five”: the IMO of course, but also the Food and Agricultural Organization, the UN Environment Programme, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, and the International Organization for Migration. None of these has a comprehensive mandate.

Maritime security will not go away once the Egyptians convince shipping to return to the Suez Canal.

As the UN secretary-general himself memorably noted in a mantra for our times: Without maritime security, there can be no global security.

Richard Meade
Editor-in-chief, Lloyd’s List