Yesterday, in a triumph for mechanical engineering, the Ever Given container ship was finally freed, preventing further blockage on one the world’s busiest trade routes – the Suez Canal.
The 200,000 ton ship first become lodged in the canal on Tuesday 23rd March, causing all trade on route to ground to a halt as other ships were unable to pass the narrow waterway. Amidst the chaos, ship trackers estimated that over 100 ships had been left waiting to transit the 120-mile Canal.
Options were severely limited for stranded ships, with the alternative route around the Cape of Good Hope taking an estimated eight days and 3,500 nautical miles longer.
With rescue efforts primarily focusing on dredging nearby sand and using smaller ships to propel movement in the large container, the Suez Canal Authority still struggled to make much progress until Monday morning when the ship was partially refloated.
This was shortly followed by a statement from Peter Berdowski, chief executive of Dutch salvage company Boskalis, at 1:05pm GMT, confirming that the giant container ship had finally been released and free passage across the Suez Canal was once again possible.
“several journalists took to social media to mock the blockage”
Approximately 12% of global trade passes through this Trans-African route, resulting in estimated losses of between $6 to $10 billion a week based on the delay, according to German insurer Allianz.
During the prolonged saga, several journalists took to social media to mock the blockage and the ability of one ship to ground a large proportion of world trade to a halt. Notably, BBC journalist Sophia Smith Galer created a sea shanty to document the incident, with her video going viral at almost a million views on Twitter.
I wrote a Suez sea shanty and I have no regrets pic.twitter.com/ExXcEKlUb3
— Sophia Smith Galer (@sophiasgaler) March 27, 2021
Several memes also circulated online, with some comparing the Ever Given blockage to the 1956 Suez Crisis – when Egyptian President Nasser’s conflict with the British caused the Canal to be closed for months.
the ever given stuck in the suez canal (2021) pic.twitter.com/DzlfadfwBZ
— jake me off ™ (@ltpenguin_) March 29, 2021
The almost week long blockage has raised questions about the competence of the Egyptian government in handling such an important trade route as well as structural issues with the Canal itself.
Suez Canal Authority chairman Osama Rabie recognised there had been severe logistical mistakes to cause such a blockage.
“An accident this big has several mistakes, several causes, part of it is a technical mistake, which is under investigation.”, Mr Rabie said.
“The only mistake we can be sure of now is the wind and the sandstorm. This is not the main one, like I said, but the rest will become clearer in the investigation.”
“it’s still unclear if such a speedy recover is feasible.”
The investigation is set to include Ever Given’s shipowner, Shoei Kisen, alongside other involved parties, the details of which are still unclear.
The Suez Canal Authority hopes that maritime traffic will return to its normal level, prior to the Ever Green blockage, within four days, however, it’s still unclear if such a speedy recover is feasible.
Lauren McGaun
Featured image courtesy of Rafik Wahba via Unsplash. This image has in no way been altered. Image license is available here.
Lauren McGaun
Lauren is a freelance journalist at BBC Politics. She helped set up EJ as Co-Founder and used to be Editor in Chief for over a year. Most evenings you will find her sipping Aperol Spritz whilst watching the news or a documentary.