As the only way to pass through the Suez Canal, the Red Sea plays an important role in global maritime routes. After many international shipping companies announced the suspension of the Red Sea route at the end of 2023, shipping prices continued to rise. Many shipping companies, such as CMA-CGM, Maersk Line and Hapag-Lloyd, said that from January 1, 2024, additional costs will be increased for affected routes.

　　The Red Sea crisis disrupted maritime transportation routes, and the ramifications began to intensify. Due to a large number of merchant vessel detouring the Cape of Good Hope, some Italian shipping experts believe that if the safety of the Red Sea is prolonged, it may lead shipping company to reroute, and Italian ports located in the Mediterranean will lose the previous shipping market, while African ports benefitting from the detour are in chaos. The detour to Africa has led to an increase in ship journeys, the demand for marine fuel oil has surged in many ports in South Africa, Mauritius and the Canary Islands of Spain. And the price of marine fuel oil in Cape Town, South Africa has increased by 15% recently.

　　The rapid rise in container freight has become a common phenomenon. According to the data released by the SCFI, the latest European Route Report rising 49.7% from the previous period. Previously, CMA-CGM announced that the freight of containers from Asia to the Mediterranean region was increased by up to 100% compared with the level on January 1, and the freight of 40-foot container TEU was increased from $3,000 to $6,000. In addition, many shipping companies have added additional costs to the routes affected. The soaring freight rates also means that the transportation costs of foreign trade enterprises have increased significantly. This makes foreign trade enterprises have to calculate carefully. On the one hand, they reduce costs through LCL, and on the other hand, by expanding the China-Europe train line as an alternative transportation solution.

　　According to reports, the cabin of the China-Europe train has been fully booked in advance, and the freight rate of the China-Europe train in January has increased by 10%-20% month-on-month, and has risen step by step with the market. Along with the increase in the price of the train, there is also the air freight. It is reported that it is currently the off-season for airfreight, but due to the impact of the Red Sea crisis, air freight rates are still at a certain level. According to the statistics of Freightos, the sea and air transportation booking platform, as of January 14, the price of air transportation between China and Europe has increased by 91% compared with the previous week. However, due to its extremely high transportation cost and relatively low load, air transportation itself is often suitable for "high cargo value" and "high timeliness requirements". Therefore, air transportation may undertake some urgent freight needs in maritime transportation, but it cannot form a mainstream alternative mode of transportation.