International shipping costs have risen 244% since the start of the Red Sea crisis last October, as retailers look to stock up ahead of Christmas.
The shipping industry has worked throughout the traditional summer down period to move goods from China and other parts of Asia to the UK and Europe.
Regular attacks on ships sailing the Red Sea by the Houthi rebels has forced vessels to sail via South Africa instead, while restrictions in the Panama Canal have inflated prices further.
A standard 40ft steel container currently costs $4,775 (£3,640.94) to be shipped across main train routes, according to the Drewry World Container Index. That's up from $1,389.5 (£1,059.49) last October.
Prices have eased slightly from summer, but remain 78% higher than the start of the year.
Patrick Lepperhoff, principal at supply chain management consultancy Inverto, said: "Usually, the summer is a quiet time for shipping and warehousing. However, at present the shipping industry is remarkably busy, as the complex process of getting shops stocked for the key Christmas period is moved forward two months.
"This has put pressure on the retailers themselves as they take in more stock early which they may not have warehouse space for. Instead, retailers will need to seek short-term storage back-up space, which can be very costly."
FTSE 100
The UK's flagship share index, the FTSE 100, was up 47-points at 8,227 shortly after opening this morning.
Brent crude oil futures were up 0.97%, trading at $71.75 a barrel.
Companies reporting today
Computacenter - Half Year Results