Mario Rodriguez

An estimated 12% of global trade worth more than $1 trillion traverses the Red Sea each year. When Houthi rebels started attacking commercial vessels in November 2023, ocean carriers began rerouting container ships around Africa’s Cape of Good Horn rather than through the Suez Canal on voyages from Asia to Europe. That greatly increased travel time and costs. As of March of this year, shipping through the Red Sea was still down 70% from before the attacks began, according to The Economist, with many ocean carriers still avoiding the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which separates the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Peninsula. Maritime Industry Caught in the Crosshairs Houthi rebels launched attacks on ships in the Red Sea in response to Israel’s military operations in Gaza. The Houthis attacked more than 100 cargo ships between November 2023 and January 2025. The attacks, with missiles and drones, sunk two vessels and killed four sailors. In late October 2024, a headline in gCaptain read, “Red Sea Is Now So Dangerous Even NATO Warships Are Avoiding It.” “The United States Navy continues to send warships through the Red Sea, but its mission to protect merchant ships – Operation Prosperity…

It’s time for Supply Chain Now! Make sure you’re up to date on all the latest episodes, interviews, conversations, and livestreams right here!   On Monday, Tracie Ohonme & Angela Carlson with Samaritan’s Feet International joined us to talk about how their outreach has shifted due to COVID-19, leading with a servant-leader mentality, & more!     On Tuesday, Scott and Greg welcomed, VP of Client Solutions with Alloy, Logan Ensign, a business leader from an industry dynamo that is empowering companies to successfully bridge the gap between plans and reality.     On Wednesday, Mike Griswold, VP Analyst at Gartner, joined us to discuss the latest in retail supply chains from an analyst’s perspective.   On Thursday, Scott and Greg welcomed Jon Gold with NRF to share the key NRF takeaways and trade issues to keep an eye on.   On Friday, we replayed a recent livestream that kicked off our new partnership with The Assoication for Manufacturing Excellence (AME). Scott & Greg heard from Lee Alves with Simpler Consulting (an IBM Company), Jan Freyburgher with OpusWorks, Tony Spielberg with Cambridge Air Solutions, and Errette Dunn with Rever about the prevailing trends may drive manufacturing in 2021. Which was…