The Cape of Good Hope, located at the southern tip of the African continent, once had the reputation of "the end of the world", but now, the "devil's wind" raging on the world's most famous headland is making the global shipping market despair.

    Severe storm conditions off the coast of South Africa have disrupted shipping in the area, according to logistics companies and commodity market analysts. Local rough seas add to the delays in global supply chains. In the past few months, many ships have diverted from the Red Sea to the Cape of Good Hope in Africa to avoid Houthi attacks, and although they have avoided the "man-made disaster", they still seem to be unable to avoid the "natural disaster".

    Denmark-based Scan Global Logistics, one of the world's leading freight forwarders, warned customers on Wednesday that extreme weather conditions around the Cape of Good Hope were forcing cargo carriers to seek shelter from high winds that have whipped up waves more than 33 feet high.

    Shipping researchers at London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) said in a note that no container ships have passed through the Cape of Good Hope since Monday. The data analytics provider relies on daily transit data of vessels and vessel location data to get a comprehensive picture of shipping traffic.

    Fabrice Maille, LSEG's global head of shipping and agriculture, said in the report: "Container vessels on the east and west sides of the Cape of Good Hope have come to a complete standstill. There has been no significant change in the traffic situation in the Red Sea, but several container ships have turned around and are waiting off the coast of Durban, South Africa."

    The Cape of Good Hope was originally called the "Cape of Storms" by Western explorers because of its stormy seas. According to the LSEG's weather team, the strong cyclone passed through the region last Sunday, likely causing the huge waves due to temperatures well below normal.

    The team also said another cyclone could affect South Africa later this week, which could mean extremely bad sea conditions for several more days.

    Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen said on the X platform that there are now about 600 container ships orbiting Africa that could be affected by extreme weather.

    Since the end of November, detour of Africa has added 10 days or more to the Europe-Asia journey for a large number of ships, disrupting the schedules of many ships and causing severe container delays in many locations. As shipping volumes increase, several ports in Asia and Europe are experiencing congestion, with ships forced to queue at sea for days waiting for berths.

    The South African Maritime Safety Authority, also on the X platform, said the bulk carrier MV Ultra Galaxy was abandoned in waters northwest of Cape Town on Monday and its 18 Filipino crew members were rescued from lifeboats by a fishing boat. According to vessel tracking data compiled by the media, the ship left the port of Walvis Bay in Namibia around July 4, bound for Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

    It is worth mentioning that the current global shipping market chaos caused by bad weather is not only the Cape of Good Hope sea - after Hurricane Beryl made landfall on Monday, the port of Texas is still closed.