'Traffic jam' at the Suez Canal

Suez colossus refloated - 12th April 2021

The circumstances surrounding the plight of a gigantic container ship wedged across the entire breadth of the Suez Canal for six days in March are currently under investigation.

Forming an indispensable nautical corridor between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, the Suez Canal is one of the world's most vital shipping thoroughfares. Subsequent to the blockage by the megaship – the Ever Given – a colossal logjam accumulated and companies were compelled to take alternative routes.

With visibility impaired in a sandstorm, and buffeted by gusty winds, the 200,000 tonne tanker unexpectedly ran aground in late March. Manoeuvring the stranded ship back on course required specialist assistance from salvage companies. Ultimately, liberating the vessel saw 800 workers toiling through the night, masterminding the dislodging of the boat using a flotilla of specialist craft, in conjunction with a high tide.

Destined for the English port of Felixstowe, the Ever Given's freight comprised around 18,000 containers, some of which salvage experts had considered offloading in order to lessen the heavy load. Estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars insurance-wise, the containers were conveying an assortment of wares across the world.

The Suez Canal enables an eye watering 12% of intercontinental trade and marks the separation between Africa and the Middle East and Asia. Sailing via southern Africa’s tip, the Cape of Good Hope, puts crew and cargo at the mercy of pirates and also requires a further fortnight on the high seas. As such, the canal provides an all important shortcut from Asia to Europe and vice versa.

The six day stoppage is calculated to have obstructed approximately $9.6bn worth of trade on a daily basis, equivalent to $400m an hour.

Inspectors are now scrutinising the ship's black box, in an effort to ascertain if human or mechanical error might have been a causal factor in the grounding. The report findings are highly significant and could open the floodgates to a slew of compensation claims worth up to $1 billion dollars.