Question 2

Read the case study below and answer the following questions:

How One of the World's Biggest Ships Jammed the Suez Canal When the Ever Given one of the largest container ships ever built, more sideways skyscraper than boat got stuck in the Suez Canal for six days in March, it dammed up worldwide shipping and froze nearly $10 billion in trade a day. For the internet, it was a bottomlessly amusing spectacle. For global shipping, it was a worst-nightmare lesson in the perils of a new breed of mega-freighter operating in tight spaces. But four months later, neither the canal, a linchpin of the global supply chain, nor the shipping industry that depends on it, has addressed some of the most critical issues that led to the grounding. Though it is leading the official investigation into the incident, Egypt has often appeared more interested in winning the public relations battle, and in squeezing more compensation out of the ship's owner, than in pinpointing what went wrong or taking steps to avoid a repeat. While strong winds the original cause given for the grounding were a factor in throwing the ship off course, an investigation by The New York Times found that a

series of commands by the Egyptian pilots appears to have made matters worse, sending the ship careening out of control and slamming into both banks of the canal. The canal authority also failed to provide tugs that could have helped keep the ship on track, in violation of the authority's own rules. But the canal authority has shielded its pilots from any blame and has neither acknowledged the oversight nor moved to change its procedures. On other issues, Egypt has promised changes. When it comes to one of the fundamental causes of the grounding, the comical mismatch between the size of the Ever Given and the width of the canal, Egypt has announced plans to widen the canal's narrowest passage, where the ship got stuck. The canal authority has also said it would provide more training for its pilots, though it has not given any details. But despite calls from maritime safety experts for the industry to reassess the size of container ships, which have grown to Leviathan proportions as it looked for savings, and for ports and canals to adjust accommodate them, there have been few indications of changes to come. The canal authority had no system in place for monitoring weather conditions or warning ships about bad weather, according to a person with knowledge of the investigation into the grounding. But the warnings were clear enough: The Ever Given and other ships were dragging their anchors, according to two people familiar with the investigation, an unmistakable indication that the weather was unusually rough. The global shipping market was already under strain because Western consumers under lockdown had gone on an online-ordering spree during the coronavirus pandemic. Waiting would have delayed the cargo the ship was carrying from Asia to Rotterdam, bound for customers in Europe.

a) Examine the freight options and strategies that businesses can consider when mitigating the risks. Support your answer with examples.