Geopolitics, War Risk and Record Rates: A Veteran’s View of Shipping in 2026

Описание: Has geopolitics ever weighed this heavily on shipping? Neville Smith, who spent 15 years as a shipping journalist and another 15 in maritime PR, doesn’t think so.

Freight Buyers’ Club host Mike King spoke to Neville at the Cyprus Shipping News London forum on 13 October 2026, where the theme of the day was “Predicting an Unpredictable Future.” Neville explains why the overlapping conflicts of the last five to ten years feel so different from isolated crises like the Iran-Iraq war, and why shipowners trading in the right places are earning enough to absorb higher war risk insurance costs without much complaint. He also touches on sanctions, compliance and the shadow fleet, and whether a return to a rules-based order is realistic.

His conclusion is that the world is likely to stay more fractured, but that shipping will keep finding a way, because resilience is in its DNA. For freight buyers, the takeaway is that disruption has become the normal operating environment, and it’s being priced accordingly.
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