Retailers should consider sources of supply closer to home in the face of the threat of a 'spectacular' terrorist attack on global supply network, a security expert has urged.
Dominic Armstrong, director of research and intelligence at security and risk consultancy Aegis, said the mindset of the Osama Bin Laden-inspired terrorist aims for maximum social and economic effect, rather than the localised suicide attacks previously favoured by terrorists.
In its Implications of Terrorism Report 2003, Aegis said attacks on cargo planes or shipping lanes could force international lines of supply to be diverted or vastly inflate insurance premiums.
'Consumers would be paying for it every time they bought something - the implications could be colossal,' he warned.
He said traditional piracy is also on the increase - up approximately 36 per cent this year - demonstrating the ease with which ships can be boarded.
Recent incidents include the commandeering of a loaded tanker. Pirates steered the ship for an hour through the Strait of Malacca between Indonesia and Malaysia before leaving - apparently a practice run for an attack.
He said obvious strike points include the mouth of the Suez Canal which, if blocked by an exploded gas tanker or made uneconomic by excessive insurance rates, could throw the supply chains of modern, low inventory, just-in-time retailers into disarray.
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