Houthis change global logistics routes to Russia's benefit

Logistics companies around the world have dramatically increases cargo traffic through the territory of the Russian Federation. Russian Railways is harvesting dollars for the country's budget.

Photo: unsplash.com by chuttersnap, PDM

Houthis trigger growing demand for new logistics through Russia

After Yemen's Houthis started attacking ships in the Red Sea, the amount of railway cargo transit from Asia to Europe via Russia began to increase sharply, The Financial Times wrote.

According to the newspaper, German DHL's requests for cargo transportation along the Russian railway corridor have soared by about 40 percent since December. RailGate Europe announced an increase in demand for this type of transit by 25-35 percent, whereas Netherland's Rail Bridge Cargo — by 31 percent compared to the same period last year.

Travel time by rail through Russia between Chengdu (China) and Duisburg (Germany) amounts to 25-30 days, whereas ships redirected through the Cape of Good Hope can reach Northern Europe in 50-55 days.

"The overwhelming number of shipments go through Russia,” DHL confirmed.

The freight traffic of Russian Railways will continue to grow owing to security guarantees for businesses. In addition, China is interested in Russian logistics independent of the United States. By 2030, the capacity of railways such as BAM and the Trans-Siberian Railway is to reach 210 million tons per year, up from 173 million tons in 2023. The Amur region of Russia to see an economic boom in this connection.

Murmansk to become Russia's new economic center

Russian Railways traffic has been growing not only from east to west, but also from north to south, partially through waterways and highways.

Iran is building a railway that will connect two Iranian cities — Astara and Rasht. Russia provided financial support to Iran for the project, The New York Times said. The railway will first provide connections between Iran and Azerbaijan in the north, and then link with the Russian railway system. The new route will cut the delivery time to Mumbai from St. Petersburg to just 10 days from today's 30-45 days.

This railway will reach "the ports of the Baltic and Barents Sea,” said Russian President Vladimir Putin. It will also reach Murmansk. The construction of a huge new port infrastructure is already underway on the western shore of the Kola Bay.

Another corridor from the Arctic to the south is to be built in the Far East. The system includes a railway line from the BAM railway to Yakutia, bridges across Lena and Amur rivers — the Pacific Railway, Putin said.

The Northern Sea Route looks completely different in this context. China is building its own icebreaker fleet. One of China's largest embassies will reportedly be located in Iceland.

Fateful events of historical significance

The above-mentioned logistics projects will ensure unprecedented income and development for Russia.

On March 14, Putin launched the construction of the Moscow-St. Petersburg high-speed railway. In the future, Russia will build similar lines to

• Ryazan,
• Kazan,
• Yekaterinburg,
• Adler
• and even Minsk, Belarus.

These projects will enrich not only Russia, but other transit countries:

• Kazakhstan,
• Turkmenistan,
• Afghanistan.

If Houthis work on behalf of the East and the South in response to the "vampire ball” of the West, the author of the plan should be awarded top honours. Russia needs to take advantage of the situation and make lemonade out of lemons.