Sail with the tide

Abstract<br/>Historically, epidemics and plagues are repeatedly reported to have happened since the ancient civilizations (Egypt, Greece, Rome and imperial China). Most known examples of a devastating global pandemics in recent history are the ‘Black Death’ (14th century) and the global influenza (1918-1919), also known as ‘Spanish Flu’, that has killed nearly 50 million people in the world. Even though<br/>pandemics may vary in their dimensions, length (short vs. long), scope (local/regional, national, global) and severity of effects (minimal effects or maximal effects), they all represent distinct exogenous and endogenous shocks that have far reaching effects on population, health, economy and other societal domains.<br/>Currently, the Covid-19 pandemic has relentlessly spreaded around the world, leaving behind destructive marks on health, populations, economies and societies. The Covid-19 could spread quickly around the globe because of the current structure of the global economy, which is highly interconnected through sophisticated global transport networks. An important characteristic of a such<br/>networked complex system is it vulnerability to unattended events of systemic risk such as the Covid-19 pandemic for example. These systemic risks cause substantial cascading effects, which lead to extreme outcomes that could permanently alter economic, environmental, and social systems.<br/>In this article, we first, present, discuss and analyze the potential impacts of the Covid-19 on global economy, trade and supply chains, by focusing on Europe and/or the Netherlands. Second, we examine the effects of the Covid-19 crisis on the shipping industry and on the hub ports and the policy measures that have been applied by different countries around the world.