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Image source, EPA
Ever Given, a giant container ship of up to four football fields with a width of 59 meters trapped in the Suez Canal, Egypt, blocking one of the busiest trade routes in the world.
Losses due to congestion caused by this giant freighter amounted to US $ 3 billion or about Rp. 43 billion per day, said maritime historian Sal Mercogliano.
“The international liner conference organization, ISC, said losses due to congestion in the Suez Canal could reach US $ 3 billion a day,” Mercogliano said, in an interview with the BBC World Service, the Thursday (03/25).
The Japanese company that owns the giant ship, Shoei Kisen Kaisha, said pushing and pulling Ever Given “has been very difficult.”
But he added that they were “doing everything possible to resolve the situation.”
Currently, at least 150 ships are trapped, waiting for the rescue ship to release the 400-meter-long ship, which drifted off course due to strong winds.
Egypt has reopened old canals in the canal to divert some of the traffic until the stranded container ship can move again.
This incident has caused an increase in the price of oil on the international market.
Crude oil prices on world futures exchanges rose six percent on Wednesday (3/24) after market players worried about the impact of the disruption in the Suez Canal, AFP said.
About 12% of world trade passes through the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea and provides the shortest sea route between Asia and Europe.
The Ever Given ship, registered in Panama and operated by the Evergreen shipping company, is heading to the port city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands from China, heading north through the canal to reach the Mediterranean.
Image source, Science Photo Library
The 200,000-ton vessel, built in 2018 and operated by Taiwanese shipping company Evergreen Marine, ran aground and got stuck on its side around 7:40 a.m. local time on Tuesday (03/23).
At 400m long and 59m wide, it is blocking the passage of another ship that is now stuck in line in both directions.
Image source, Reuters
The company that manages the container ship, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), denied previous reports that part of the ship had been refloated.
In a statement, they said that “the immediate priority is to refloat the ship and to resume maritime traffic in the Suez Canal safely.”
Experts warn that the process can take days.
Reuters, citing local sources, said at least 30 ships were trapped north of Ever Given and three to the south.
Evergreen Marine said the ship was “allegedly hit by a sudden strong wind, causing the hull to drift … and accidentally hit the seabed and ran aground.”
BSM confirmed Wednesday that the entire crew was “safe and known to be” with no reports of injuries.
Eight tugs are working to reload Ever Given, and excavators on land have removed the sand from where it got stuck on the side of the canal.
Dr Sal Mercogliano, a US-based maritime historian, told the BBC that incidents like these were rare, but could have “profound consequences for world trade.”
Concerns that the lockdown could hamper crude oil shipments sent oil prices soaring 4% in international markets on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
The Kpler energy intelligence agency said more than 20 tankers carrying crude oil and refined products were affected by the congestion.
“This is the largest ship that has ever run aground in the Suez Canal,” he said, adding that the ship got stuck in an embankment and would lose its manpower and maneuverability.
“If they can’t get it out … during high tide, they’ll have to start unloading the cargo.
Julianna Cona, who said she was in another boat right behind Ever Given, wrote on Instagram: “The boat in front of us ran aground crossing the canal and is now stuck on its side, it looks like we’re not going anywhere for a moment. . … “
Analysis by Theo Legett, BBC News Business Correspondent
The Suez Canal is a global commercial artery that connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea and provides a route for ships to pass between Asia and the Middle East and Europe. The main alternative, the route through the Cape of Good Hope in the southern tip of Africa, would take much longer.
An average of almost 50 ships pass through the canal every day, although sometimes the number can be much higher, accounting for around 12% of world trade. This was of great importance as a route for petroleum and liquefied natural gas, allowing shipping from the Middle East to Europe.
Therefore, the nightmare scenario is the blocking of this important route, exactly what is happening now with the ending of Ever Given.
The question now is how long the route will be impassable, as long delays will create serious problems for shippers, delaying delivery of goods and fuel.
In this case, reports indicate that traffic is returning to normal relatively quickly, so the impact will be limited, despite rising oil prices.
However, the incident has shown what can go wrong when a new generation of ultra-large ships like Ever Given has to cross relatively narrow channel boundaries.
Despite the fact that part of the canal was expanded as part of a major modernization program in the middle of the last decade, it remains difficult to navigate and accidents do occur.
The Ever Given ship has the capacity to carry 20,000 20-foot containers, according to the Reuters news agency.
Almost 19,000 ships passed through the canal in 2020, according to the Suez Canal Authority, an average of 51.5 ships per day.
In 2017, a Japanese container ship blocked the canal after it ran aground following reports of mechanical problems. Egyptian authorities deployed a tugboat and it floated again within hours.
AFP
The Suez Canal crosses the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt, a piece of land between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. This channel is 193 km long and has three natural lakes.
In 2015, the Egyptian government opened a major canal expansion that deepened the main waterways and provided 35 km of canals parallel to them.
