On March 23, local time, the Taiwan Evergreen’s ultra-large container ship “Ever Given” accidentally ran aground while turning on the Suez Canal in Egypt, the main artery of international shipping, and the entire ship “traversed” in the waterway.
Affected by this, serious two-way traffic jams occurred in the Suez Canal. In two days, nearly 100 ships were waiting for passage in long queues, unable to travel between the Red Sea and Mediterranean. It is reported that the Suez Canal was opened to navigation in 1869, carrying about 10% of the world’s maritime trade. The incident also caused media attention. Some experts worry that the channel blockage may have a “catastrophic” impact on global trade.
Sal Mercogliano, a maritime historian at Campbell University in North Carolina, pointed out that the impact of channel blockage on global trade is “disastrous.” “Due to the epidemic, everyone knows how important the speed of commodity transportation is, and the current emergencies. It will delay the pace of bringing products to the market.”
On March 24, local time, the Suez Canal Authority confirmed the incident, saying that the reason for the ship stranding may be the reduced visibility caused by the sandstorm and bad weather passing through the country. Eight tugboats have been dispatched to the scene to assist the stranded container ship to re-float and resume navigation.
According to the port service agency GAC, citing SCA, the stranded vessel has partially restarted floating and has docked on the canal bank. Once the ship is towed to another location, the route traffic will soon return to normal. However, according to Bloomberg News, SCA has not issued any such statements. The Independent reported that Ahmed Mekawy, GAC’s assistant manager, said that the information the company received was inaccurate. There is currently no indication as to when the canal will be unblocked and when transportation will resume. An Egyptian official who asked not to be named said it is expected to last until at least Friday.
The Egyptian government announced in August 2014 that it would excavate a new 72-kilometer canal on the east side of the Suez Canal to expand navigability, including the construction of a new 35-kilometer channel, and the widening and deepening of the original 37-kilometer channel. The new canal opened in August 2015. According to Professor Rocky Weitz, director of the Fletcher Maritime Research Program at Tufts University, the old waterway provided partial relief from congestion. “But the old channel is smaller, so larger ships will need to wait until the main channel is reopened.”
A spokesperson for Bernhard Schulte Ship Management (BSM), which is responsible for handling crew and technical issues, said in a statement: “The preliminary investigation ruled out any grounding caused by mechanical or engine failure.” “Once it re-floats, the ship will be fully exposed. Check, BSM will fully cooperate with the relevant authorities on the accident report.” BSM said: “All parties are investigating the cause of the stranding, and any given reason is incorrect.”
“Ever Given” is one of the world’s largest container ships, 400 meters long, 58.8 meters wide, with a carrying capacity of approximately 220,000 tons and a carrying capacity of 20,388 TEU.
According to the information on the official website of Evergreen Shipping, the itinerary of the ship departed from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, China in late February, passed through ports such as Qingdao Port, Shanghai Yangshan Port, Ningbo Port, and Yantian Port before heading north to the Suez Canal on March 23. Plan to arrive in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on April 1.
As the world’s main trade channel, the impact of the Suez Canal blockade will appear. Trade flows are expected to be delayed for several days. Commenting on the potential impact of the incident on container trade, SeaIntelligence CEO Lars Jensen said that it is currently estimated that it will take about two days to clear the canal, which will cause delays in 110,000 TEU cargo. This is based on the assumption that about 55,000 TEU of goods travel from Asia to Europe through the canal every day. Delays will cause a surge in cargo entering major European ports. “In other words, this increases the risk of port congestion in European ports a week later.” He added.
“In addition, the accident also delayed the delivery of 55,000 TEU containers to Asia every day, further increasing the delay in the supply of empty containers in Asia.” Considering that the Asia-Europe supply chain is already stretched, shipping companies basically took advantage of all available in the market.Capacity to meet the increasing demand, so the timing of the blockade is very challenging for the market.
Sal Mercogliano, an American maritime historian, told the BBC that “this is the largest ship ever stranded in the Suez Canal”. This incident is rare and may “have a huge impact on global trade influences”. He pointed out that if the freighter cannot be towed away, people can only unload the cargo. Officials of the Suez Canal Authority stated that it may take several days to remove the ship, and workers are digging a lot of sand around the ship.
Another alternative to the canal is to reroute ships to the Cape of Good Hope, which will extend the voyage from Asia to Europe by another week. However, large liner companies will have to speed up their ships and will face higher fuel costs.
Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping company, said seven of its ships were blocked by channel blockades. Four of them were trapped in the canal, while the rest were waiting to enter the channel. Four ships are currently trapped:
“The’Maersk Saigon’ has the ability to make up for the delay of a little more than two days in order to arrive in Asia on time, while the other three ships will face delays. Every hour, the backlog of the canal will increase,which put further pressure on supply lines that have lost their buffers.” said James Wroe, head of Maersk’s Asia Pacific liner business.
The Suez Canal is one of the most important waterways in the world. It is known as the global maritime traffic artery, accounting for about 10% of all international maritime trade. Connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, it is an important waterway between Eurasia. The canal is 190 kilometers long, 24 meters deep, and 205 meters wide. According to reports, after the freighter ran aground, traffic on one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes was blocked, and oil prices once rose as a result, affecting the shipping of more than 100 ships.
The Suez Canal is also an important source of foreign exchange income for Egypt. Data from the Suez Canal Authority shows that under the unfavorable factors such as the global economic contraction and falling international oil prices, 18,829 ships will still pass through the canal in 2020, and the annual revenue will reach 5.61 billion U.S. dollars which is the third highest in history.