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CAIRO (BLOOMBERG) – So far, tugs and excavators have failed to dislodge a huge container ship stuck in the Suez Canal on Wednesday (March 24), increasing the chances of lengthy delays in what is arguably the most important waterway in the world.
Work to float the ship was suspended until Thursday morning (March 25) in Egypt, shipping agent Inchcape said, citing the Suez Canal Authority. Dredgers are still trying to loosen the ship before any attempt to remove it, the ship’s manager said.
It is exhausting to even understand how big this ship is. At about 400 meters long and weighing 200,000 metric tons, its sheer size is overwhelming efforts to unearth it. A huge yellow bulldozer, which is about twice the height of its driver, looks like a speck next to the huge bow of the ship.
The situation has become so desperate that an elite rescue squad is due to arrive Thursday to work on capturing the Ever Given from the canal bank, where it is blocking ocean carriers that transport everything from oil to consumer goods. .
About 12% of world trade passes through the canal, making it so strategic that world powers have fought for the waterway since it was completed in 1869.
For now, all that traffic is backed by the Ever Given stranded in the southern part of the canal, creating another setback for global supply chains already strained by the e-commerce boom linked to the pandemic.
“The blockade of the Suez Canal comes at a particularly futile time,” said Greg Knowler, European editor of the JOC Group, which is part of IHS Markit Ltd. charges companies across the UK and Europe. “
The international incident began Tuesday when strong winds tore through the region, kicking up sands along the banks of the 120-mile-long canal, which connects the Mediterranean in the north with the Red Sea in the south. The waterway is narrow, less than 205m in places, and it can be difficult to navigate when visibility is poor.
But Ever Given kept its course through the canal, on its way to Rotterdam from China. As gusts of up to 46 miles per hour kicked up dust around them, the crew lost control of the ship and slid onto a sandy embankment, blocking almost the entire channel. It is still in the same position as when it ran aground, according to Inchcape.
At the heart of all this is the massive scale of the ship.
Container ships have almost doubled in size in the last decade as world trade expanded, making the job of moving such ships when they get stuck very difficult.
Even though key routes, including the Suez Canal, have been widened and deepened over the years to accommodate large vessels, the work to dig them up after they get stuck requires enormous power.
The fight to dislodge the ship now falls to SMIT Salvage, a legendary Dutch firm whose employees parachute from ship wreck to ship, often saving ships during violent storms. This ship is so heavy that rescuers may have to lighten it by removing items such as ballast water, which helps keep ships stable when at sea. Fuel can also be discharged.
The Suez Canal Authority has not commented on the work or given any indication of when traffic could resume.
The canal is among the busiest waterways in the world, used by tankers carrying crude oil from the Middle East to Europe and North America, as well as in the opposite direction.
On Wednesday, 185 ships, mostly bulk carriers, container ships and oil or chemical tankers, were waiting to cross the canal, according to shipping data compiled by Bloomberg.
The blockade highlights a significant risk facing the shipping industry as more and more ships transit maritime choke points, including Suez, the Panama Canal, the Strait of Hormuz and the Straits of Malacca in Southeast Asia. These events could become more common as ships get larger and waterways become more congested.
Oil companies are beginning to prepare for the worst.
On Wednesday, there was a spike in interest from oil companies seeking to reserve tanker trucks with options to avoid the canal, according to one broker, and several tendered for space in pipelines that allow the diversion of the waterway entirely.
For now, that’s a move for good measure. Container ships will likely have to wait, as the main alternative is the unattractive option of sailing around the southern tip of Africa.
The disruption comes at a time when oil prices were already volatile. Crude rose above $ 70 a barrel earlier this month due to Saudi production cuts, only to fall close to $ 60 this week due to setbacks in the European coronavirus vaccine program.
Brent crude rose more than 5% on Wednesday.
Ever Given’s crew is safe and accounted for, and there have been no reports of injuries or contamination, according to the ship’s manager, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement.
The ship carries cargo for logistics company Orient Overseas Container Line Ltd., according to Mark Wong, a spokesman for OOCL.
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