THE maritime industry's cold supply chain and its ability to carry high-value pharmaceuticals is being looked at for the future possibilities of shipping Covid-19 vaccines by sea, reports New York's Maritime Professional.
Before the Covid crisis, 3.5 million tonnes of pharmaceuticals were moved by sea each year, against 0.5 million tonnes by air.
The cold chain industry, also known as the refrigerated part of the end-to-end supply chain, was estimated at US$73 billion last year.
Currently, vaccines are being shipped by air to international destinations due to the spread of the pandemic, making delivering by sea a longer-term strategy.
Although the possibility of vaccines being carried by sea isn't expected to happen soon, there are some container lines that believe it can happen by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, AstraZeneca, one of the makers of Covid vaccines, increased the proportion of pharma products it ships by sea from five per cent in 2012 to nearly 70 per cent in 2017.
Vaccines follow that their owners will prioritise using experienced cold-chain carriers to get their products to market since the vaccines are volatile and valuable.
Since pharma shipments that travel by sea is larger than those sent by air, the totally lost Covid vaccine shipment could represent a loss of $50 million.
The vaccines' retail price is $20 to $25 per dose, with the World Health Organisation expecting up to 25 per cent of vaccines to be ruined every year due to poor temperature control.
Cyberattacks also pose a risk for suchcargo, making it such a challenging task for all parties involved in the process.
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