An excavator is trying to release the failed container ship Ever Date, one of the largest container ships in the world, after it crashed in the Suez Canal, Egypt, March 25, 2021.
Suez Canal Authority Reuters
The massive Ever Date container ship is now stranded in the Suez Canal for three days, stopping billions of dollars in trade as ships pile up on both sides of the waterway.
More than 150 ships are currently waiting to pass through the 120-mile artificial channel, according to estimates by research firm StoneX.
Images captured from the MarineTraffic locator show the extent of the accumulation.
A MarineTraffic chart showing maritime traffic stopped around the Suez Canal after the Ever Date ship was embedded in the canal.
Source: MarineTraffic
A MarineTraffic chart showing maritime traffic stopped around the Suez Canal after the Ever Date ship was embedded in the canal.
Source: MarineTraffic
The canal manages about 12% of maritime trade, making it a key crossing point. Each additional day the ship is delayed disrupts more than $ 9 billion in cargo, according to the Associated Press, citing estimates from Lloyd’s List.
The research firm StoneX mentioned that 24 of the ships carry crude oil, 15 are tanks for refined products and 16 are carriers of liquefied natural gas / liquefied petroleum gas.
For ships waiting to cross the canal, alternative options are limited.
“As the delays continue, shippers will have to address the unpleasant decision to make a return and head to the Cape of Good Hope or wait for it in the Red Sea and Mediterranean,” cargo data company Kpler wrote in a note. 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 when traveling at 12 knots, compared to 41 days if traveling around the Cape of Good Hope.
The failed container ship Ever Date, one of the largest container ships in the world, is seen after it crashed in the Suez Canal, Egypt, March 25, 2021.
Suez Canal Authority Reuters
“The event highlights the relative fragility of the water trading system, especially for those flows for which the transit of the Suez Canal represents a higher percentage of the total volumes moved,” the company added.
The ship crashed horizontally on the waterways due to strong winds. Several tugs were sent to the scene, and a team from Smit Salvage was called to attend the operation.
“Dredging operations to help the ship continue to float. In addition to the dredges already on the ground, a specialized aspiration dredger has arrived at the site,” Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, technical manager of the ship, said in a statement. ship. The company said an early attempt to re-float the ship on Thursday failed and another attempt would be made later that day.
The huge freight carrier is more than 1,300 feet long and about 193 feet wide. It weighs over 200,000 tons. One end of the ship was embedded in one side of the canal, the other stretching close to the other shore.
Nearly 19,000 ships passed through the canal during 2020, for an average of 51.5 per day, according to the Suez Canal Authority. The ship was sailing from China to Rotterdam when it stopped.
Lt. General Ossama Rabei, center, head of the Suez Canal Authority, with a team walking along the shores of the Suez Canal, where Ever Give, a Panama-flagged cargo ship, became embedded over the Suez Canal and blocked traffic on the way vital navigable. An operation is underway to try to release the ship, which threatened global shipping on Thursday, as at least another 150 ships need to cross the crucial waterway pending to clear the obstruction.
Suez Canal Authority A?
Oil prices rose about 6 percent on Wednesday, both for West Texas Intermediate’s gross future and for Brent’s gross future, which was the best day in November. But by Thursday, contracts were in the red, with concerns over demand weighing on Europe’s bottlenecks.
The blockage of the canal further exacerbates the supply chains that were already tense amid the disruptions caused by Covid-19.
“Although it remains premature to assess the full impact of the incident, our channel checks indicate in the short term, the blockage is likely to add to industry supply strains, which are already hampered by ongoing supply chain blockages (port congestion and ship / lack of containers) caused by COVID-19, as liner ships redirect current voyages to alternative routes, which will lead to longer journey times and cause additional delays, ”JPMorgan wrote in a note to customers.