Workshop Details

The Department of Homeland Security university centers of excellence (COEs) have established a COVID-19 Supply Chain Initiative under support of the DHS Office of University Programs and under the leadership of the CCICADA Center at Rutgers University. This event is part of a sequence of short workshops that the Initiative is holding to help identify areas for collaboration among the COEs, ideas for projects, and contacts with people at DHS, other government agencies, and within the private sector.

This workshop explores the supply chain impacts of the recent Suez Canal incident and its interconnections with the pandemic. The blockage of the Suez Canal has potential long-term supply chain impacts and illustrates the interconnectedness and vulnerability of the world’s maritime trade system.

When the Suez Canal incident occurred, the global supply chain, which is dominated by maritime traffic, was already impacted by the pandemic.  Some of those impacts included port congestion, container shortages, spikes in freight rates and energy prices, and impacts to vital commodities and goods, from food to microchips.  As global trade increases through fixed waterways and ports, disruptions from future events may be significant.

Malicious actors, natural disasters, pandemics, geo-political events and marine casualties such as the Suez event can disrupt domestic and global supply chains. Furthermore, these and other disruptions can occur singly or in combination.  Building resilience requires an understanding of supply chain vulnerabilities, consequences, and mitigation and recovery strategies.

Our nation’s homeland security is linked to global maritime trade.  Examining the Suez incident provides a unique opportunity to identify emerging global supply chain factors, improve preparedness, enhancing business continuity, and prioritize future research and policy decisions.  Among the topics of interest are:

• Identifying and evaluating global maritime choke points
• Alternative routes and risks, including Arctic
• Cascading impacts of freight rate spikes and shortages
• Shipping-related global food supply risks
• Shipping-related global energy supply risks, including emerging fuels
• Gaps in global trade governance and risk management
• Port congestion and shipping container shortages and gluts
• Emerging technology, AI, autonomous vessels, maritime domain awareness
• Cyber security factors
• Multiple, simultaneous risk factors and worst-case scenarios
• Prioritizing future research and policy initiatives