Views: 0 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2026-04-01 Origin: Site
The US Israel Iran conflict has entered its second month, and the war has not only severely damaged the economies of the participating countries, but also triggered global spillover effects. Its impact on oil supply has exceeded the sum of the two oil crises in 1973 and 1979. From skyrocketing energy prices to global supply chain disruptions, from shrinking capital risk appetite to regional instability, crisis ripples continue to spread, profoundly impacting the global shipping system. Large engineering equipment such as rotary drilling rigs and pile drivers are facing unprecedented operational pressure in cross-border transportation and logistics due to their high value, long transportation links, and reliance on energy for propulsion, resulting in comprehensive impacts on costs, timeliness, safety, and other aspects.
The conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran has caused disruptions to navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. The International Energy Agency has pointed out that the export volume of crude oil and refined oil transported through the strait has dropped to less than 10% of pre conflict levels, directly pushing up global oil prices, with a much greater impact than two oil crises. The cross-border transportation of heavy-duty equipment such as rotary drilling rigs and pile drivers heavily relies on heavy lifting vessels and semi submersible ships, with fuel costs accounting for more than 30% of the total shipping costs. Oil prices continue to fluctuate at high levels, coupled with the simultaneous surge in ship fuel prices, significantly driving up equipment transportation expenses. At the same time, the International Energy Agency's largest ever joint release of energy storage still cannot alleviate supply pressure, and logistics companies are forced to continuously raise emergency fuel surcharges. The fuel related costs of transporting a single large equipment across oceans have increased significantly compared to before the conflict, seriously squeezing the profit margins of enterprises.
The Strait of Hormuz, as the core throat of global energy and trade, carries about one-fifth of the transportation volume corresponding to global oil consumption, and is also a key channel for large-scale equipment transoceanic shipping. Affected by the conflict, the strait has fallen into a "soft blockade" state, with a significant decrease in commercial vessel traffic, frequent navigation disruptions, and ship delays. Most merchant ships are forced to detour around the Cape of Good Hope, resulting in an extension of 14-40 days for routes from Asia to Europe and the Middle East. The transportation cycle of equipment such as rotary drilling rigs and pile drivers has been significantly extended, coupled with port congestion and decreased loading and unloading efficiency, resulting in prolonged equipment detention time and inability to arrive at overseas infrastructure sites on time, directly affecting project construction progress and continuously increasing the risk of breach of contract.
The ongoing escalation of the US Israel Iran conflict has led to a sharp increase in global shipping war risk premiums, with some ships even losing their underwriting capacity at one point, becoming an important factor driving up the logistics costs of large equipment. The London Lloyd's Market Association pointed out that the core of suppressing cross-strait navigation is safety risks, not the lack of insurance tools, which has led logistics companies to pay high premiums to ensure the safety of equipment transportation. In addition, the contraction of capital risk appetite caused by conflicts has led to an increase in financing costs for shipping companies. Coupled with the storage and custody fees generated by equipment demurrage, the hidden logistics costs of the entire chain of equipment such as rotary drilling rigs and pile drivers have significantly increased, further exacerbating the operational burden on the industry.
The spillover effects of conflicts have spread to the global economy, with European economic growth expectations declining, emerging markets facing multiple pressures such as capital outflows, currency depreciation, and imported inflation, and global infrastructure investment willingness generally cooling down. The market demand for large equipment such as rotary drilling rigs and pile drivers is highly correlated with infrastructure investment. With the slowdown of infrastructure projects and the postponement of new construction plans in various countries, the demand for equipment procurement has significantly shrunk, and the corresponding cross-border shipping orders have declined synchronously. Especially in regions directly affected by conflicts such as the Middle East and Europe, the demand for equipment imports has sharply decreased, and the utilization rate of specialized transportation capacity for large equipment traveling to and from related routes continues to decline. Logistics companies are facing the dilemma of insufficient orders and idle transportation capacity.
The US Israel Iran conflict not only impacts shipping channels, but also continues to disrupt global industrial supply chains, indirectly affecting the transportation and circulation of large equipment. The conflict has led to damage to energy and industrial facilities such as Iran's South Pars gas field and Qatar's liquefied natural gas facility, as well as tightened supply of key industrial materials such as helium, which in turn affects the production and delivery of core components of large equipment, resulting in frequent adjustments to equipment transportation plans. At the same time, global trade rules have become fragmented due to conflicts, with some countries strengthening trade controls and tightening customs clearance audits. The cross-border customs clearance process for rotary drilling rigs, pile drivers, and their core components has become more complicated, further exacerbating the instability of transportation links.
Analysis suggests that the worst moment of the US Israel Iran conflict has not yet arrived, and the escalating situation will further exacerbate global shipping uncertainty. Faced with multiple pressures such as high energy prices, obstructed shipping routes, and shrinking orders, the large-scale equipment shipping and logistics industry is forced to adjust its operational strategies and strengthen risk prevention and control. Logistics companies are optimizing their route layouts, avoiding high-risk areas, and retaining alternative detours; Simultaneously locking in long-term fuel and transportation contracts, implementing modular transportation of equipment, shortening port detention time, and reducing losses and costs. Equipment export enterprises are shrinking their overseas layout and prioritizing the supply of core markets to cope with long-term market fluctuations caused by conflicts.
