For well-known reasons, a large number of cargo ships on the Asia-Europe route are currently circling southern Africa. These cargo ships, trying to avoid missile and drone attacks, will face the challenge of the magnificent forces of nature in the coming days.

    Shipping giant MAERSK issued an "extreme weather warning" on Monday, saying strong winds, high waves and heavy rain were expected along the South African coastline over the next few days, which was expected to affect the handling of ship movements. Delays are expected over the next few days to find shelter and avoid affected areas.

    Maersk said the route between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth - the southernmost point in Africa - was likely to be most affected in the coming days.

（source：Google Maps）

    To avoid trouble, about 690 cargo ships are currently sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, mainly European and American container ships affected by problems in the Middle East.

    South Africa's weather service on Sunday warned of "destructive coastal winds" in parts of the country, heavy rain and waves of up to 10 metres in some areas as a fierce cold wave hit, threatening infrastructure. High speed winds and waves may also make navigation difficult in some offshore areas.

（source：X）

    It is worth mentioning that the bad weather not only has an impact on the cargo ships sailing on the sea, but also a test for the disrepair of South Africa's port infrastructure.

    In the Container Port Performance Index 2023, released by the World Bank and S&P Global Intelligence in June this year, the Port of Cape Town in South Africa ranked 405th in the world - the last place in the report, with the ports of Woola and Durban, also from South Africa, taking second and eighth place in the world.

    Port Elizabeth fared slightly better, ranking 391st in the world. By the way, the world's No. 1 port on this list is China's Yangshan deep Water Port.

（source：CPPI报告）

    Faced with numerous problems, Transnet SOC, South Africa's state-owned logistics company, has struggled to improve the operation of its ports, as well as seek private investment and replace equipment adapted to extreme weather conditions.

    As the global shipping plate was hit by the rapid rise of the European line container futures on Monday, the warning of bad weather in South Africa did not change the market adjustment atmosphere. As of press time, Danish-listed Masky is now down nearly 4% after falling more than 5% on Friday. Hapag-lloyd, another European shipping giant, also fell more than 3%.