The incidents add another risk around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical chokepoint connecting the Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea and a key route for global shipping.
The Pinglu Canal will reportedly shorten inland waterway transportation by nearly 350 miles, reduce transportation costs by as much as $735 million annually.
Russia and Ukraine have stepped up attacks on each other’s commercial ships and ports in the Black Sea area, raising concerns about global grain supplies.
Moving forward, Seroka predicted that it will likely be "steady as it goes" for the rest of 2026, with the port expecting to handle another 900,000 TEUs in August.
Although the coalition's efforts were largely successful in suppressing piracy over the last decade, renewed global instability has allowed the threat to reemerge.
Born at the Dock argues that a supply chain plan is not complete when software approves it; it is complete only when the physical network can execute it and the customer receives the order in full. The whitepaper reframes planning around the dock, where inventory must be found, cases picked, pallets built, shipments staged, trailers loaded legally, carriers dispatched, and destinations prepared to receive.
