On this episode of What's Going on With Shipping, Sal Mercogliano - Chair of the Department of History, Criminal Justice and Political Science at Campbell University, former merchant mariner and adjunct instructor of Maritime Industry Policy at the US Merchant Academy - discusses the fall of Afghanistan and its impact on global shipping and the Chinese Belt and (Silk) Road Initiative. The introduction covers the role of shipping during the initial response to the 9/11 attacks by the US and its Allies in Afghanistan. The focus is on several key ships that facilitated the response - MV Major Bernard F Fisher, SS Cornhusker State, MV A1C William H Pitsenbarger and MV Maersk Alaska. After discussing military efforts, particularly those of the Navy and the creation of afloat staging bases, it expands into the development of supply routes into Afghanistan, first via the port of Karachi in Pakistan and then the Northern Distribution Network via Europe and Asia. Finally, the issue of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative across central Asia is examined and why China may the one nation that comes out of the situation of Afghanistan in a better position than any other. Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4645750-horse-soldiers#:~:text=Horse%20Soldiers%20is%20the%20dramatic,achieve%20a%20stunning%20military%20victory. Civilian Ship Supports Operation Enduring Freedom https://www.marinelink.com/news/operation-supports320771 Marines 24th MEU Gears Up For Deployment at Wilmington, NC Seaport https://www.army.mil/article/7467/marines_24th_meu_gears_up_for_deployment_at_wilmington_nc_seaport OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM: THE UNITED STATES ARMY IN AFGHANISTAN, OCTOBER 2001-MARCH 2002 https://history.army.mil/catalog/pubs/70/70-83.html OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, MARCH 2002-APRIL 2005 https://history.army.mil/catalog/pubs/70/70-122.html OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, MAY 2005–J