Chris Morris is a global trade correspondent for the British Broadcasting Corporation.
A shipping container arrived seven weeks late at a warehouse in Yorkshire on a misty morning just before Christmas.
The toys and games were shipped from China.
The containers expected before Christmas won't arrive until January.
Businesses are facing delays as they struggle to meet consumer demand due to the impact of the Covid epidemic.
The cost of global shipping has gone up dramatically this year.
Drewry predicts that shipping companies will make a record $150 billion in profits this year. It is an extra burden for many other businesses.
This is the busiest time of year for Boxer Gifts, a family-run firm which develops and designs games and seasonal presents.
Most of their stock is manufactured in China. Container deliveries used to be incredibly reliable, but that helps keep consumer prices down. Not this year.
Boxer Gifts' managing director Thomas O'Brien says that 95 percent of them are at least a week late.
The container was delayed getting out of China. It was delayed for another month. This is stock that people can't buy until the last minute for a seasonal business.
There aren't enough empty containers in China to meet the demand for sending goods around the world.
There are no ships available to pick up the empties in the wrong places.
Global supply chains have been disrupted by covid shutdowns and delays.
Retailers tried to get stock in early. The situation worsened because of a shortage of ships and containers in the right place at the right time.
Dozens of ships have been moored off ports in California waiting to be unloaded. European ports have been under a lot of pressure.
Shipping was sensitive to shocks. The Evergiven was the ship that blocked the canal for six days.
The real damage was done by Covid.
The markets editor of the shipping journal Lloyd's List says that container lines are meant to call at fixed times and durations.
That's not happening because they can't.
The short-term cost of sending freight from Asia to Europe has gone up by 366% this year.
Longer-term rates have gone up even more. The cost of sending a container from Asia to Europe has gone up.
The shipping lines that carry containers are on course to make record profits this year.
"Rates should be going down or going up at this time of the year," she says. We're not seeing that, but we're still seeing them climb up.
It will take time for things to settle down, as ports are working longer hours to keep trade moving, while more ships are on order to try to cope with the demand.
Tim Morris, chief executive of the UK Major Ports Group, told a recent UK parliamentary committee hearing that they have hired more people.
The regularity and predictability of vessel arrivals has gone out of the window because of the large amount of disruption worldwide.
If three ships suddenly arrive, it puts huge pressure on ports and freight forwarders.
The aftermath of the UK's exit from the EU and a shortage of drivers for heavy goods vehicles have added to the pressure on the system.
The industry hopes the shipping delays are temporary, but they are expected to last well into the future.
The huge disruption caused by Covid-19 has exposed vulnerabilities in global supply chains. They've held up well, given the scale of the epidemic.
It's been a reminder of how dependent we've become on getting shipping containers delivered on time.
Increasing local production is an alternative option. Boxer Gifts is starting to make local jigsaw puzzles.
Don't expect globalisation to retreat soon. This world is still connected.
We take for granted the challenges that supply chains face.
Companies.
Global trade.
Shipping industry.
