Kashmir conflict the latest disruption thrust shipping’s way

Shipping has a new hotspot to navigate through with South Asia erupting into conflict overnight.

India conducted missile strikes on nine targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir last night. India’s military reported seven civilian deaths from Pakistani shelling along the de facto border, while Pakistan stated 26 people were killed and 46 injured due to Indian airstrikes and firing along the line of control.

Tensions between the nuclear-armed nations escalated following a deadly militant attack on Indian tourists in Pahalgam last month, something that quickly saw trade between the two neighbours come to a halt.

The last six months saw 520 port calls of vessels between Pakistan and India, according to data from maritime analytics firm Windward.

The two nations do not have a huge trading relationship. In the last full financial year, Pakistan imported Indian goods worth $1.2bn, while India imported goods worth only $3m from Pakistan.

Punit Oza, president of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, who also teaches a course on geopolitics and their impact on shipping at Singapore Management University, took to LinkedIn today to detail the knock-on effects for shipping from this skirmish.

The first impact, Oza suggested, will be in form of extra costs, either in form of deviation or in form of extra insurance costs.