Industrial, Shipping and Logistics

A supply chain is a political object. It runs through jurisdictions, straits and ports whose behaviour is set by governments, not by carriers.

Industrial · Shipping · Oil and gas

Corridor and chokepoint exposure

Most supply chain reviews map suppliers and tiers. Fewer map the physical corridors the goods travel and the specific chokepoints where a political decision can stop them. Bab el-Mandeb, Hormuz, the Bosphorus, the Suez approaches and the land corridors across Central Asia each carry a different and changing risk, and the insurance market reprices them faster than most planning cycles.

We map exposure at corridor level and identify which alternatives are genuinely available at what cost and lead time, before they are needed rather than during.

Port, customs and clearance reality

Nominal transit times mean little where clearance is discretionary. We work from observed clearance performance, the documentation that actually gets goods released, and the relationships that determine whether a container moves this week or next month. For industrial projects this single factor often dominates the delivery schedule.

Oil, gas and the shifting Eurasian map

Pipeline politics, sanctions regimes and the redirection of energy flows between Russia, China, the Gulf and Europe are reshaping which routes and counterparties are viable. We track the commercial consequences of those shifts rather than their geopolitical commentary, focusing on contract terms, payment channels and insurance availability.

Integration strategies and their limits

Carriers and industrial groups pursuing end-to-end control take on regulatory attention, capital intensity and customer conflict that the strategy papers tend to understate. We assess where vertical integration genuinely defends margin and where it converts a flexible cost into a fixed one.

Signals this is the right work

Your supply chain map stops at supplier names. A single corridor carries more of your volume than your board realises. Insurance premiums on a route have moved and nobody has modelled the P&L effect. A clearance delay is treated as bad luck rather than as a recurring, manageable cost.

What you get

Exposure mapped at corridor and chokepoint level, not just supplier tier
Alternative routing options with genuine cost and lead time attached
Observed clearance performance and the documentation that actually releases goods
Contract, payment channel and insurance review for sanctioned or contested routes
An assessment of where vertical integration defends margin and where it fixes cost

Common questions

Can you assess a single corridor rather than the whole network?

Yes, and that is often the right scope. A focused review of one chokepoint that carries a disproportionate share of volume delivers more than a broad map.

Do you work with our existing freight forwarders?

Usually. They hold operational knowledge worth having. Our role is the layer above: political, regulatory and contractual exposure that a forwarder is not engaged to assess.

How do you handle sanctions exposure on shipping routes?

By screening counterparties, vessels and payment channels against the regimes that apply to you, and by being explicit where a route is commercially attractive and legally unavailable.

Discuss a mandate

If this describes the problem you are holding, a short conversation will establish quickly whether we are the right people for it.

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