The news of the Omicron variant from South Africa rippled through the financial markets on Friday as stocks, treasury yields, and oil sank. Countries around the world have now begun implementing travel restriction to and from South Africa in efforts to control the spread. The WHO has stated that it is too early to tell how impactful this strain is relative to the others, but a meeting has been called to determine that potential concern.

As the shipping industry grapples with a logistics crisis, China has instated up to a 7-week mandatory quarantine for returning Chinese seafarers and prohibiting crew changes for foreign crew under the zero Corona policy. Even vessels that have switched crew elsewhere will have to wait two weeks before being allowed to port in China. The knock-on effects are being felt as shipowners and managers have had to reroute ships, adding to the global supply chain crisis. Ship congestion seemed to be easing in the US and Asia, but market participants expect the scope to worsen. Meanwhile, the EU’s situation does not seem to show signs of becoming less severe.