Top ocean shipping stories of 2023: War, drought and detours

Ocean shipping routes are always in flux, but 2023 took it to a whole new level. Trade routes were blocked or impeded by geopolitics, labor and weather: sanctions on Russia, U.S.-China tensions, dockworker union unrest, drought-driven cuts at the Panama Canal, and attacks on ships in the Red Sea. Ocean trade detoured around each obstacle. When vessels divert in large numbers, it makes headlines, but that flexibility is one of ocean shipping's greatest strengths. Ship diversions, as the software saying goes, are a feature, not a bug. Here's a look back how FreightWaves covered of a year when ships kept…