A recent confluence of events from the Suez Canal crisis, COVID-19 pandemic, and emerging just-in-time logistics models present ongoing global business challenges. In a world where it is not a matter of if, but when, the next global crisis will occur, this article will discuss the scope of commercial insurance coverages currently abuzz, including supply chain and contingent business interruption, and offer proactive business protections from these unexpected events.

Anatomy of a Global Crisis

In March 2011, Japan was ravaged by the Great Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, causing setbacks in global markets. That same year, Thailand suffered disastrous flooding with similar impact on trade. In 2017, groundwater invaded two high-speed rail tunnels in Germany. This caused Europe's busiest main line to close for seven weeks while all alternate routes from Germany to Switzerland were also closed for engineering and electrification work, resulting in diversion of significant daily traffic to France or through Austria.