Maritime transport is the main artery of global trade. The intricate networks of shipping routes, ports, and inland terminals have strengthened the interconnectedness of the world economy, and maritime shipping is the critical mode of global transport. The 2024 report, The Review of Maritime Transport, prepared by UN Trade and Development, highlighted several significant trends that will continue to be relevant in 2025. However, the subtitle of the report was “navigating maritime chokepoints” and the topic of chokepoints and supply chain resilience was among the main focuses of the report. Chokepoint Vulnerabilities and Rising Freight Rates / Maritime transport has chokepoints. The Suez Canal and the Panama Canal are critical, narrow maritime passages that provide shortcuts on lengthy intercontinental maritime journeys. Yet these chokepoints are vulnerable to disruptions. These disruptions can be weather-related – like the 2023 drought that lowered water levels in the Panama Canal; reflective of geopolitical conflict – like the challenges faced in the Black Sea since the war in Ukraine began or the Houthi rocket attacks and ship seizures in the Red Sea that have led to carriers avoiding the Suez Canal; or operational – like the blockage of the Suez Canal caused by a very large container ship, the Ever Given, that ran aground in the Canal. (....)