New LR service targets cargo disruption when trade routes fail

Lloyd’s Register has introduced a new Supply Chain Resilience service designed to assist ports, governments, and logistics operators in maintaining cargo flow during disruptions caused by geopolitical issues, congestion, severe weather, or infrastructure failures. The service aims to prevent disruptions from spreading across the logistics network by identifying alternative gateways that may have limited capacity, resulting in added costs and delays, and shifting pressure to road, rail, and other inland transport options.

LR Advisory, the division launching the service, evaluates disruptions across various transport modes, including ports, airports, road borders, and rail connections. It then assists clients in comparing alternative routes and transport combinations based on factors such as cost, capacity, delay, service, and risk. In the initial 0-90 days of a disruption, LR can perform a rapid assessment of affected routes and develop a response plan spanning 30-60-90 days.

This plan may encompass alternative routing, cargo prioritization, diversion triggers, surge capacity measures, and clear operating guidelines to enable clients to adapt to changing circumstances.

For critical and time-sensitive shipments, including food, medicines, energy supplies, industrial inputs, and exports, the service can aid in determining which cargo should be moved first and how available capacity should be allocated. LR Advisory can assess various alternative routes, such as sea, sea-air, sea-land, and air-land, including bonded and cross-border options where appropriate.

The service also enables clients to learn from short-term disruptions and make informed long-term decisions regarding their logistics networks and infrastructure. Over a three-month to five-year period, LR Advisory can analyze how corridor diversification and infrastructure development can reduce dependence on individual gateways and chokepoints.

This involves resilience planning for port, airport, road, and rail interfaces, along with feasibility and investment planning for infrastructure such as dry ports, inland logistics hubs, and rail-connected freight nodes. Kamran Ul Haq, Senior Vice President of LR Ports Advisory, emphasized that resilience is about understanding supply chain vulnerabilities and having credible alternatives ready when needed, rather than attempting to predict the next disruption.

He highlighted that decisions made during a disruption can reveal where future investment, increased capacity, or greater corridor diversity could enhance the overall network's resilience.