Abstract

Global Maritime chokepoints, ranging from the Strait of Hormuz to the Suez Canal to the Panama Canal, act as lifelines of global trade, carrying a significant amount of oil, energy, raw materials, and containerized cargo around the world. Any disruption in these regions has a profound impact on logistics operations, freight rates, shipping schedules, manufacturing networks, and global supply chains. Over the recent years, the shipping disruptions resulting from low rainfall in the Panama Canal basin, the Red Sea Houthi crisis, and the temporary blockade of the Suez Canal have underscored the strategic significance of maritime chokepoints in the global trade and supply chain system. This case touches upon a similar geopolitical disruption in the Strait of Hormuz in February 2026 that caters to 25% of the world’s seaborne oil trade. It examines the strategic responses of the shipping giant A.P. Moller–Maersk to this challenge. The case focuses on the various measures taken by Maersk leveraging its end-to-end global supply chain model to ensure that services disruptions in the Middle East are kept to the minimum. Maersk’s emergency measures highlight both the strengths and limitations of its crisis-response capabilities. The shipping giant now confronts a broader strategic long-term dilemma: what combination of operational flexibility, network design, and risk diversification will enable sustainable resilience in an era of recurring geopolitical shocks?

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Discuss the impact of maritime disruptions on the shipping operations of companies.
• Examine the probable vulnerabilities in shipping operations and their impact on the network design, routing decisions, and shipping service models.
• Analyze strategies to mitigate the maritime vulnerabilities and ensure resilience.
• Discuss the impact of maritime disruptions on the shipping operations of companies.
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Keywords

Transportation and Logistics; International Trade; Resource-Based View (RBV); Lean vs Agile Supply Chains; Supply Chain Resilience, Second-order supply chain effects; Crisis Management; Risk management, Maersk; Strait of Hormuz; Freight services