2020 - A year of “stormy” sea transport
2020 - A year of “stormy” sea transport
Global logistics disruptions have become one of the defining challenges of 21st century e-commerce. The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-2021, the Suez Canal blockage of March 2021, the Red Sea shipping crisis of 2024 and the trade policy disruptions of 2025 have each demonstrated how fragile global supply chains can be — and how quickly disruptions translate into higher costs, longer lead times and stock shortages for businesses that depend on international trade. This blog covers what these disruptions have meant for UK e-commerce businesses and shoppers, and how parcel forwarding via UK-based services provides a more resilient alternative to traditional supply chain models for time-sensitive goods.
The 2020-2021 Shipping Crisis — What Happened
The COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented disruption to global maritime logistics. In the first half of 2020, shipping lines suspended roughly one in six container ship trips from Asia to Europe and North America as demand collapsed. Then, in the second half of 2020, demand rebounded sharply — driven by consumers shifting spending from closed services to goods, combined with significant stockpiling as businesses feared further supply disruption.
The result was a period of severe imbalance. Container ships were in the wrong locations, port congestion created multi-day delays, and freight rates surged dramatically. The Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) — which tracks ocean freight rates on 13 major routes from Shanghai — rose from below $500 per twenty-foot container equivalent (TEU) in early 2020 to over $2,800 per TEU by January 2021, and continued rising through 2021 before eventually normalising in 2022-2023.
The practical impact on UK e-commerce was significant. Lead times for goods manufactured in Asia extended dramatically. Stock levels fell across multiple product categories. Retailers who had adopted lean just-in-time inventory models found themselves unable to replenish stock quickly enough to meet recovering demand. The crisis exposed the fragility of global supply chains that had been optimised for efficiency rather than resilience.
The Red Sea Crisis — 2024
Just as global freight rates had normalised after the pandemic disruption, a new crisis emerged in late 2023 and intensified through 2024. Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea forced major shipping lines to reroute vessels around the Cape of Good Hope — adding 10-14 days to journeys between Asia and Europe and significantly reducing effective global container capacity.
Freight rates spiked again in early 2024, though not to the same extreme levels seen in 2021. The disruption served as a reminder that ocean freight — which handles over 80% of global goods trade by volume — remains vulnerable to geopolitical events, weather disruptions and physical blockages that are entirely outside the control of the businesses that depend on it.
Trade Policy Disruptions — 2025
2025 brought a further disruption — this time policy-driven rather than pandemic or conflict-driven. The suspension of the US duty-free de minimis threshold in August 2025 fundamentally changed the economics of shipping low-value goods to the USA. The introduction of broad US tariffs on goods from multiple countries disrupted established supply chains, accelerated stockpiling ahead of implementation dates and contributed to a further spike in global freight demand and rates in the first half of 2025.
For UK e-commerce businesses, the tariff changes created both challenges and opportunities. UK-origin goods benefited from relatively more favourable treatment in some markets — and UK exporters with established trade agreement relationships with Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the CPTPP bloc found preferential access to these markets increasingly valuable as supply chain diversification accelerated globally.
Supply Chain Diversification — The Lesson Learned
The accumulated disruptions of 2020-2025 have produced a durable shift in how businesses think about supply chains. Research consistently shows that businesses across sectors accelerated supply chain diversification — reducing over-reliance on single source countries (particularly China), adding buffer inventory capacity and developing alternative supplier relationships.
For UK retailers and e-commerce businesses, this diversification has included growing engagement with nearshore suppliers in Europe and with other established sourcing markets including India, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Turkey. For international shoppers and businesses using UK parcel forwarding, it has meant that the UK retail market — supplied increasingly from diverse sources — offers access to high-quality goods that are not available or affordable in many other markets.
Air Freight vs Sea Freight — Why Parcel Forwarding Is Different
The disruptions described above all relate primarily to ocean container shipping — the transport mode that handles the majority of manufactured goods by volume. Parcel forwarding services like Send2Hub operate in an entirely different segment of the logistics market: express air freight and international parcel services via carriers including Royal Mail, Parcelforce, UPS, DHL, FedEx and DPD.
Transit times are measured in days, not weeks. While a container ship from China to the UK takes 30-50 days, an international parcel forwarded via DHL Express from Send2Hub's UK warehouse typically reaches destinations in Asia, the Gulf or Australasia within 2-5 business days. This speed difference fundamentally changes the risk profile — a 2-day delivery has much lower exposure to logistics disruption than a 40-day ocean journey.
No container shortages or port congestion. The problems that characterised the 2020-2021 crisis — empty containers in the wrong locations, port backlogs of weeks — do not apply to express parcel services, which operate on entirely different infrastructure. Air cargo capacity is more flexible and responsive to demand changes than ocean container capacity.
Six carrier options with real-time rate comparison. Send2Hub's platform compares live rates across six major carriers — Royal Mail, Parcelforce, UPS, DHL, FedEx and DPD — at the point of checkout. This means you always have alternatives if one carrier has capacity constraints or rate spikes, and you can compare speed versus cost in real time. Use our shipping calculator to see current rates for your destination.
How Send2Hub Provides a Resilient UK Logistics Base
For international businesses and shoppers using UK retail, Send2Hub's Stoke-on-Trent warehouse provides a UK-based logistics hub that is insulated from the ocean freight disruptions that have characterised global trade in recent years. UK-sourced goods — purchased from UK retailers and delivered domestically — arrive at our warehouse via the UK's reliable domestic carrier network, completely unaffected by ocean freight rates or port congestion.
Parcel consolidation further improves logistics resilience. By accumulating multiple purchases at our warehouse and forwarding as a single consolidated international shipment, customers reduce the number of individual international shipments — and therefore the number of potential disruption points — while simultaneously saving 40-60% on international shipping costs. Learn more on our parcel consolidation page.
For e-commerce businesses managing UK marketplace returns, Send2Hub provides a stable, domestic UK returns address that is not subject to the international logistics disruptions that affect direct cross-border returns. Returns are received, processed and consolidated at our UK warehouse before a single international re-shipment — regardless of what is happening in global sea freight markets. Visit our e-commerce returns management page for details.
Frequently Asked Questions
How did the 2020-2021 shipping crisis affect global freight rates?
The COVID-19 pandemic caused ocean freight rates to surge dramatically. The Shanghai Containerised Freight Index rose from below $500 per TEU in early 2020 to over $2,800 per TEU by January 2021, driven by demand recovery, port congestion and container shortages. Rates remained elevated through 2021 before normalising in 2022-2023.
What was the Red Sea shipping crisis?
From late 2023 through 2024, Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea forced major shipping lines to reroute vessels around the Cape of Good Hope — adding 10-14 days to journeys between Asia and Europe and reducing effective global container capacity, causing a further spike in freight rates.
Does Send2Hub use sea freight?
No. Send2Hub ships all outbound international parcels via express air freight and international parcel services — Royal Mail, Parcelforce, UPS, DHL, FedEx and DPD. These operate on completely different infrastructure from ocean container shipping and are unaffected by the port congestion, container shortages and rate spikes that characterise sea freight disruptions.
How do global logistics disruptions affect UK parcel forwarding customers?
Indirectly — if goods are out of stock at UK retailers due to supply chain disruptions, they cannot be purchased or forwarded. However, the UK's diverse retail market and multiple supply chains mean most products remain available even during periods of disruption in specific sourcing regions. Our UK Shopping Directory covers hundreds of UK retailers across every category.
Why is parcel forwarding more resilient than sea freight for e-commerce?
Express parcel services offer 2-5 day transit times versus 30-50 days for sea freight — meaning shorter exposure to disruption. They use air and road infrastructure rather than ocean shipping, so port congestion and container shortages do not apply. Multiple carrier options provide alternatives if one carrier has capacity constraints.