The crew of the cargo ship Eternity C could hardly believe their eyes – within minutes, their vessel was sunk in broad daylight in the Red Sea by an unmanned boat and RPG missiles, and they were taken captive by Houthi rebels. The next day, another container ship was attacked in the Red Sea – and it too was sunk. Just a few years ago, such a scenario would have sounded completely far-fetched. Yet these two alarming incidents occurred just this past month – and they are not the only ones. Worse still – they are only part of a growing wave of threats to the global supply chain, driving up the costs of production, transport, and logistics.
In recent years, the global supply chain has been severely shaken by a series of crises and events: the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the Houthi attacks on the maritime route through which approximately 50% of global goods once passed, and the latest disruptive development – the U.S. administration’s new tariff policies.
Pickommerce CTO Amir Shapiro and Cybord Founder and CTO Eyal Weiss and CEO Oshri Cohen are both Technion alumni.