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Shipping routes for the transport of iron ore from Australia to Japan and containerized goods from East Asia to Europe are at the center of plans to slash maritime carbon emissions by 2030.

GLASGOW, Scotland — Major shipping companies on Nov. 5 called for governments to put more money into researching and developing cleaner technologies to help the industry reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

The world’s largest shipping hubs are suffering elevated levels of congestion as containers pile up at seaports from Singapore to Greece’s Piraeus.

With shoppers already starting to purchase gifts and other items earlier than usual for the upcoming holiday season, concerns are growing that the already strained international supply chain will not be able to handle the crush of goods.

As volumes continue to surge at the nation’s ports on the coasts of the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, two of the nation’s biggest facilities — Los Angeles and Long Beach — are taking the first steps to expand their hours of operations to 24/7 to keep up with the backlog of freight.

An owner of commodity hauling freighters said rates for the ships are close to the point of spiking sharply higher and mirroring an unprecedented surge in costs for transporting manufactured goods.

Global supply chains already tangled by the pandemic, labor shortages and sustained consumer demand in the U.S. are getting walloped by another disruptive force: Mother Nature.

More than six months into the economic recovery, the nation’s ports on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts continue to see record or near-record cargo loads, and port officials and economists forecast the substantial numbers likely will continue well into 2022.

Global vaccinations of seafarers are going too slowly to prevent outbreaks on ships from causing more trade disruptions, endangering maritime workers and potentially slowing economies trying to pull out of pandemic slowdowns.

President Joe Biden’s signing of an executive order to increase competition and reduce congestion in the supply chain is gaining the support of leaders at the Federal Maritime Commission and trade associations.