An excavator is attempting to release the stranded container ship Ever given, one of the largest container vessels in the world, after it ran aground in the Suez Canal, Egypt, on March 25, 2021.
Suez Canal Authority | Reuters
The massive Ever given container ship has been trapped in the Suez Canal for three days, stopping billions of dollars in trade as ships piled up on both sides of the waterway.
Currently, more than 150 boats are expected to pass through the 120-mile artificial channel, according to estimates by research firm StoneX.
Captured images from the MarineTraffic boat tracker show the scope of the buildup.
A MarineTraffic chart showing maritime traffic came to a halt around the Suez Canal after the ship Ever given was sunk into the canal.
Source: MarineTraffic
A MarineTraffic chart showing maritime traffic came to a halt around the Suez Canal after the ship Ever given was sunk into the canal.
Source: MarineTraffic
The canal manages about 12% of maritime trade, making it an essential crossing point. Every additional day the ship is delayed interrupts merchandise worth more than $ 9 billion, according to the Associated Press, which cites estimates from Lloyd’s List.
Research firm StoneX has noted that 24 of the vessels carry crude oil, 15 are refined product tanks and 16 are carriers of liquefied natural gas / liquefied petroleum products.
For ships waiting to cross the canal, alternative options are limited.
“As the delays continue, shippers will have to make the unpleasant decision to make a change of direction and head to the Cape of Good Hope or wait for it in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean,” the data company wrote. of Kpler commodities in a note to customers.
Redirection significantly increases the duration of a trip, which translates into higher costs. Sailing from the Suez Canal to Amsterdam takes just over 13 days to travel at 12 knots, compared to the 41 days traveling around the Cape of Good Hope.
A stranded container ship Ever given, one of the largest container vessels in the world, is seen after stranded in the Suez Canal, Egypt, on March 25, 2021.
Suez Canal Authority | Reuters
“The event highlights the relative fragility of the water trading system, especially for flows for which Suez Canal traffic represents a higher percentage of the total volume of movements,” the firm added.
The ship sank horizontally on the waterway after strong winds. Several tugs were sent to the scene, and a team of Smit Salvage has been called in to help with the operation.
“Dredging operations are continuing to help re-float the ship. In addition to the dredgers already on site, a specialized suction dredger has arrived at the site,” Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, who is the technical manager, said in a statement. of the ship. The firm said a first attempt to re-float the ship on Thursday was unsuccessful and another attempt would be made later that day.
The huge cargo carrier is more than 1,300 feet long and about 193 feet wide. It weighs more than 200,000 tons. One end of the ship was minted on one side of the canal, and the other extended to the other shore.
Nearly 19,000 ships passed through the canal during 2020, for an average of 51.5 daily, according to the Suez Canal Authority. The ship was sailing from China to Rotterdam when it ran aground.
Lieutenant General Ossama Rabei, center, head of the Suez Canal Authority, with a team strolling along the shores of the Suez Canal where the Ever Give, a Panama-flagged cargo ship, was stranded across the Suez Canal. Suez Canal and blocks traffic on the vital waterway. An operation is underway to try to work the ship freely, which endangered world shipping on Thursday as at least another 150 ships that needed to cross the crucial waterway were inactive waiting for the obstruction to be cleared.
Suez Canal Authority | AP
Oil prices jumped about 6% on Wednesday, with West Texas Intermediate crude futures and Brent crude futures posting their best day since November. But on Thursday contracts turned red again, and demand concerns weighed amid blockades in Europe.
Channel blockage further exacerbates supply chains that were already tense amid interruptions caused by Covid-19.
“While it is premature to assess the full impacts arising from the incident, our channel checks indicate in the short term, the blockade is likely to add to the industry’s supply tensions, which are already hampered by the continuum supply chain bottlenecks (port congestion and container shortages) caused by COVID-19, as liners reorient current travel to alternative routes that will result in longer travel times and lead to more delays. ” wrote JPMorgan in a note to clients.