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Approximately 50 heavily laden ships pass through the Suez Canal, which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, every day. 30 percent of the world’s container cargo and 10 percent of all oil are transported through the narrow street.
Therefore, a stop is quickly expensive, and it happened just before 06 o’clock on Tuesday. A sandstorm and strong winds caused the 400-meter-long container ship to run aground, writes The Guardian. It was on the other side of the canal, blocking it in both directions.
Expensive grounding
By Thursday night, about 150 boats were parked on either side of the canal, according to al-Jazeera. The stop is estimated to cost around SEK 10 billion per day and authorities are now doing their best to free the ship.
It is so. The excavators, which seem small in comparison, try in vain to dispose of the ship on land. An expert tells The Guardian it could be weeks of work.
The bulldozer is trying to free the ship.
Photo: NEW CHINA / SIPA / SHUTTERSTOCK / NEW CHINA / SIPA / SHUTTERSTOCK SHUTTERSTOCK
On Thursday, Toshiaki Fujiwara, a spokesman for the company that owns the container ship, said they did not know when they could be successful.
– We haven’t heard of any progress. “Now they are trying to dig up dirt under the boat,” he told al-Jazeera on Thursday.
Tomato sauce effect
The blockade could have very important consequences for world trade. It has disrupted an intricate network of supply chains and once ships can begin operating the canal again, there may be stops at the world’s container ports.
– It will be a ketchup effect. Then we have all the ships that were in line plus the ones that would have come anyway. There can be real queues in northern European ports, Danish maritime expert Lars Jensen tells al-Jazeera.
