Tens of thousands of tonnes of food aid for the world’s poorest countries have been left stranded by the Iran conflict, with the UN World Food Programme warning that millions more people may be pushed into acute hunger if the disruption continues.
The WFP has about 70,000 tonnes of food affected on the high seas as congestion and rerouting ripple through global shipping lanes, Corinne Fleischer, director of supply chain, told the FT. The UN body is also being forced to reroute some aid cargoes over land.
Conflict in the Middle East has severely curtailed shipping through key choke points, with some ports now inaccessible. The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz following Iranian strikes and fears of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea has prompted insurers to raise war-risk premiums and shipping lines to suspend bookings and reroute vessels.