Malta, September 2026.
Alkagesta CEO Orkhan Rustamov has published an exclusive opinion piece in The Motor Ship, one of the longest-standing publications covering the global maritime and shipping industry, examining the structural challenges driving freight costs to record levels and the responsibilities facing the shipping and trading industry in response.
The piece draws on a series of recent market developments — including freight rates for tankers across Eastern Mediterranean and regional trade routes, shipping costs from the Gulf to the Far East, and Trans-Rhine freight costs reaching their highest level in 14 years — to argue that accepting rising transport costs as an immovable fact of life is not an option the industry can afford.
Rustamov identifies agility, supply chain diversification, and scenario planning as the practical foundations of a credible industry response, making the case that shipping companies and traders must work in closer alignment to build resilient, adaptable supply networks capable of responding to sudden geopolitical and environmental shocks.
The opinion piece is available here: Exclusive: Shipping industry must act against spiralling costs