From the CSA president, Juan Carlos Croston

Ensuring survival in turbulent times

We often take the connected nature of our world for granted, and nothing has brought this into sharper focus than the events that have unfolded since the start of this year. As we continue to grapple with the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in our daily lives and business operations, it is abundantly clear that the tightly interconnected global environment has been dramatically upended in ways that we could not have imagined.

It is fair to say that at the end of last year, hardly any of us had heard of the Chinese city of Wuhan. However, by the end of January this year it quickly grabbed worldwide attention as the original centre of the coronavirus pandemic. In a matter of months, the world was almost brought to a standstill by this contagion.

Supply Chain Disruptions

The integrity of the shipping industry's supply chain has been placed under immense pressure, and we now find ourselves in uncharted territory. The economic uncertainties emanating from seismic supply chain disruptions are being felt in international trade lanes, ports, factories and ground transportation operations, among other key areas.

Social distancing and the unintended consequence of the mandatory shutdown of various operations, has had a most severe impact on the cruise and tourism sectors. The economic blows of the pandemic will start to show in the second quarter of this year, and we must be prepared for the fluctuation in demand, potential cash flow crisis and other repercussions.

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