Shipping lying idle off the coast of China
71 dry bulkers waiting to unload with no resolution in sight due to frosty trade relations between China and Australia.
Tensions between China and Australia are preventing the unloading of 71 dry bulkers and stranded crews are calling on authorities to intervene, reports Shippingwatch. The ships are carrying Australian coal – the most recent vessel to join the ships waiting to off-load dropped anchor in the early days of the new year.
Peter Sand, analyst at Bimco, said: “Over the past half-year, the situation has gotten continually slightly worse. The trade war between Australia and China has gone from bad to worse. And it started with Australia wanting to investigate the origin of Covid-19 closer in China.”
China has alternative sources of coal and the stand-off could see it meet demand with overland imports from Russia and Mongolia, or by sea from other nations in the region such as Indonesia. Hundreds of mariners, many Indian nationals, are stuck in the middle of the impasse — some have been at sea for nearly two years.
