Giant container ship gets stuck in Suez Canal, causing jam
Efforts on to dislodge vessel longer than Eiffel Tower that ran aground amid high winds
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
A photo of the grounded container ship Ever Given, time-chartered by Taiwan-based Evergreen Line, taken from a vessel stuck behind it. The 400m-long Ever Given's hull became wedged lengthwise across the Suez Canal on Tuesday.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Follow topic:
CAIRO • Efforts to dislodge a giant container ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal continued as rescue teams tried to get traffic moving again in one of the world's most important waterways.
The Ever Given, a container ship longer than the Eiffel Tower that ran aground in the southern part of the canal in Egypt, is still stuck across the waterway despite efforts to release it, Mr Ahmed Mekawy, deputy manager for Suez Canal for the Gulf Agency Company (GAC), a provider of port agent services, said yesterday.
Traffic should resume by today, Mr Mekawy added.
He later said he had received some wrong information about whether the ship had been moved, but it was unclear whether that affected this timetable.
The Ever Given was stranded on Tuesday morning after losing the ability to steer amid high winds and a dust storm, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said.
About 30 per cent of global container ship traffic passes through the canal each day, carrying everything from fuel to consumer goods.
Pictures posted on social media appeared to show the 400m-long ship positioned diagonally across the canal, blocking its full width.
Photos shared by the SCA showed a digger removing earth and rock from the bank of the canal around the ship's bow.
About 12 per cent of world trade by volume passes through the canal, and it is a major source of hard currency for Egypt.
Tracking maps had shown the ship grounded in the southernmost stretch of the waterway, between the Great Bitter Lake and the Red Sea port of Suez.
The blockage left dozens of vessels gridlocked and a lengthy halt could further stretch supply chains that have already been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.
About 42 vessels either in the northbound convoy or arriving to transit the canal in that direction were waiting for the Ever Given to be refloated, Leth Agencies, one of the top providers of Suez Canal crossing services, said.
The company said it is sending a dredger to help free the ship.
About 64 vessels travelling southbound were also affected.
GAC said 15 affected ships are waiting at anchorage.
Navigation is possible along the old canal, the canal authority said. But the vessel is stuck at a point that cannot be bypassed, so the old canal cannot help.
The Ever Given was travelling from China to Rotterdam.
The crew are safe and accounted for, and there have been no reports of injuries or pollution, according to the ship's manager, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement.
The vessel is carrying cargo for logistics company Orient Overseas Container Line, according to its spokesman Mark Wong.
Shipping companies have been turning to mega-sized vessels to help improve economies of scale, while some key routes - including the Suez Canal - have been widened and deepened over the years to accommodate them.
The vessel deviated "from its course due to suspected sudden strong wind," Taiwan-based Evergreen Line, the time charterer of the vessel, said.
The 193km-long Suez Canal is among the most trafficked waterways in the world, used by tankers shipping crude from the Middle East to Europe and North America.
The disruption comes at a time when oil prices are already volatile.
Crude surged above US$70 a barrel earlier this month on Saudi production cuts, only to slump close to US$60 this week due to setbacks in Europe's coronavirus vaccine programme.
Brent crude rose 2.2 per cent to US$62.13 as at 11.42 am in London (Singapore time 7.42pm).
About 600,000 barrels of crude flow from the Middle East to Europe and the United States via the canal daily, while volumes from the Atlantic Basin to Asia total about 850,000 barrels a day, according to Mr Anoop Singh, head of East of Suez tanker research at Braemar ACM Shipbroking.
In addition, 400,000 barrels of naphtha go from west to east through the waterway each day, while 300,000 barrels of middle distillates head the other way.
Derived from crude, naphtha is used to make plastics and blend with petrol, while middle distillates, also made from crude, include jet fuel and diesel.
BLOOMBERG, REUTERS
