Ever given, a container ship almost every time the Empire State Building is high, ran aground in the Egyptian Channel after being caught by 40-knot winds and a sandstorm that caused low visibility and poor navigation. .
It has blocked one of the busiest waterways in the world, prompting frantic recovery efforts, including the use of two dredgers, nine tugs and four excavators along the canal.
Dredgers work hard to remove sand and mud from the bow of the boat and will have to travel between 15,000 and 20,000 cubic meters (530,000 to 706,000 cubic feet) of sand to reach a depth of 12 to 16 meters (39 to 52 feet) , which could allow the ship to float, the SCA said Thursday. It is about eight times the size of an Olympic swimming pool.
“In addition to the dredges on site, there is a specialized suction dredger with the ship that will start operating soon. This dredger can move 2,000 cubic meters of material every hour,” said Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, director ship technician Ever given, in a statement.
The SCA added that it had discussed the option of moving the boat, which measures 400 meters (1,312 feet) long and 59 meters (193 feet) wide, dredging the area around it.
The chief pilot of the SCA channel told CNN on Wednesday that re-floating the massive ship is “technically very complicated” and can take days.
A team of rescue experts from the Dutch Smit Salvage and the Japanese Nippon Salvage, who worked on several high-profile operations in the past, have been appointed to help the Suez Canal Authority re-float the ship, according to informed the charter company Evergreen Marine in a statement. .
But every day that passes is a high cost for companies and countries whose trade has been slowed by the blockade. Approximately 12% of world trade volume passes through the Suez Canal and usually handles about $ 10 billion a day in cargo.
More than 18,800 ships with a dead weight of 1.17 billion tonnes passed through the canal during 2020. This represents an average of 51.5 ships a day.
At least 160 ships carrying fuel and vital goods are now waiting to cross the blocked waterway, according to a lead pilot of the SCA canal. Some ships decide to divert their voyage around Cape Horn to avoid blocking the Suez Canal, but face an additional 3,800 miles and up to 12 additional days of navigation, according to the International Chamber of Transportation.
“Not only will the cargo on board the Ever done be greatly delayed on its voyage, but hundreds of other ships will also be affected. The damage caused to the global supply chain will be significant,” the secretary said. ICS general Guy Platten.
Experts worry that if the ship is not released soon, the snail could affect the oil market, shipping tariffs and containers, which will lead to an increase in the cost of daily goods.
“Most trade between Asia and Europe still depends on the Suez Canal, and since vital goods, including vital medical equipment and PPE, move through these ships, we call on the Egyptian authorities to do all they can. possible to reopen the channel as soon as possible, “Platten said.
But the closure can now have a much greater and damaging impact than during the last two shutdowns, as the level of trade between Europe and Asia has grown substantially in subsequent decades.
“The size of the shipment has become so large that it’s very difficult for the Egyptian authorities to basically keep up with the growth,” CNN international senior correspondent Bill Wedeman said Thursday. “The size of the Suez Canal in the last 50 years, the width, has basically doubled and it’s clear it’s still not big enough.”
The Ever Give is owned by the Japanese shipping company Shoei Kisen KK. In a press release, Shoei Kisen apologized to other ships that were planning to sail and are now trapped. The company told CNN that it is assumed that damage will be claimed for the incident, but that their main goal now is to refloat the ship.
CNN’s Hamdi Alkhshali and Mostafa Salem contributed to this report.