Supply Chain Crunch Reveals Importance Of Marine Shipping

The relentless supply chain crunch since the pandemic that has affected everything from new cars to children’s medicine has made a growing proportion of Canadians realize marine shipping is important to them, says research from Angus Reid Institute and Clear Seas Centre for Responsible Marine Shipping. As recently as 2020, 39 per cent of Canadians said the shipping industry was not important to their daily life, with 22 per cent believing the opposite. Today, 26 per cent believe shipping to be non-essential to their day-to-day life and 34 per believe it to be critically or very important. In fact, an estimated 70 to 80 per cent of items they use daily are brought by ship. Four-in-five Canadians say global issues such as inflation, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the COVID-19 pandemic have increased their awareness of how the global network of goods works. In addition, Canadians are aware about the impacts of shipping with as many as three-in-five worried about potential spills from oil tankers and the same number concerned about ships dumping garage. They are also concerned about emissions, yet 38 per cent would not pay additional amount on goods shipped from overseas if it meant reducing or offsetting emissions. Another 22 per cent say they would pay less than one per cent.