Suez Canal blockage spurs transportation debate

Experts said the incident also further dented recovery efforts for global trade and supply chains, highlighting the fragility of worldwide commerce flows and the need to diversify transportation itineraries.

Yu Zhanfu, partner and vice-president for China at consultancy Roland Berger, said, "The Suez Canal blockage highlighted the necessity to have a plan B (for trade and supply chains).

"This could be a backup plan for emergency situations, so that business operations or logistics are not completely cut off by incidents such as this."

Some 1.2 billion metric tons of cargo pass through the Suez Canal annually, while 1.9 million barrels of oil are shipped through the waterway each day, according to the Suez Canal Authority and Lloyd's List Intelligence.

A total of 18,829 ships used the canal last year－an average of more than 50 vessels per day.

Lin Guolong, director of Shanghai Maritime University's Logistics Research Center, said about 60 percent of Chinese vessels heading from their home country to Europe and Africa, pass through the 193-km canal to avoid the much longer trip around the southern tip of Africa.

Qi Qi, an associate professor at Guangzhou Civil Aviation College, said the ship's grounding was a wakeup call for Chinese companies to diversify their logistics solutions.

"Relying too heavily on a single transportation route is not advisable, as occurrences such as this prove," Qi said.