The shocking figures of the blockade of the Suez Canal by the stranded ship

Dredges, tugs and even a backhoe attempted unsuccessfully on Thursday to free the giant freighter stuck in the Suez Canal. while at least 185 ships wait to cross the crucial route. Over time, losses in the shipping industry increase.

The Ever Given, a skyscraper-sized ship that transports goods between Asia and Europe, ran aground on Tuesday on the narrow man-made track that separates mainland Africa from the Sinai and connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. Even with the help of the tides, authorities were unable to move the Panamanian-flagged vessel and they are looking for new ways to publish it. Work resumed this Friday morning, so far without success.

A review of the large number of ships, the canal and the impact of the blockade They allow us to understand the magnitude of the crisis which is keeping world trade in limbo.

The never given ship

With nearly 400 meters long, 59 wide and weighing 200,000 tons, the Ever Given is one of the largest container ships in the world, provided that the Empire State Building New York is big. Its large size makes it difficult to dig it up. Nail big yellow bulldozer, Almost twice the size of her driver, she looked like a miniature toy scratching the ground next to the bow of the ship.

The vessel, built in 2018, has the capacity of over 20,000 containers and is operated by a crew of 25, all of Indian nationality.

Peter Berdowski, director of a team of Dutch experts hired to help with the rescue operation, compared the ship to “A huge stranded whale” and indicated that it may be necessary to download the containers stacked about 30 meters high to reduce its weight and make it float again.

“We cannot rule out that it may take weeks, depending on the situation”, he told Dutch media. “It’s a huge weight on the sand. We may need to work with a combination of weight reduction by removing containers, oil and water from the ship, tugs, and sand dredging.

The Suez Canal

Around 12% of world trade and 30% of all containers transported by river pass through the Suez Canal, which makes it so strategic that the great world powers have fought for it since its completion in 1869. The link between Asia and Europe, the seaway reduce distances considerably: 6000 kilometers less between Singapore and Rotterdam, for example.

It is 193 kilometers long, 24 meters deep and 205 meters wide.. On average, a ship takes 14 hours to transit.

The canal has continued to expand and modernize since its opening, and has accompanied the evolution of maritime trade to the point that it now receives giant ships of up to 240,000 tonnes. At the time of its nationalization by the Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1956, the channel had 175 kilometers long, 14 meters deep and could accommodate ships up to 30,000 tons and 35 feet of draft (10.7 meters).

A new enlargement of the canal, inaugurated in 2015, will double traffic to 100 vessels per day by 2023. As it develops, the Suez Canal, where a large part of the oil transported by sea passes, faces competition from transit by Cape of good hope, In the south of Africa. Because even if you reduce distances considerably, when oil prices drop, it can be more profitable to travel thousands of miles more than to pay substantial user fees, which is essential for Egypt’s finances.

The impact of the blockade

The giant freighter blocks shipments estimated to be worth 9.6 billion USD per day, including food and oil, which will impact the global economy, experts have warned. The figure is based on an assessment of Lloyd’s List which suggests that westbound traffic has a value of about $ 5.1 billion per day and eastbound traffic approx. 4.5 billion USD. As of Thursday, goods worth USD were already detained 29,000 million.

There are around 185 boats waiting to travel along the waterway, as shown by the data compiled by Bloomberg. Many others point to the Suez Canal as their next destination, which could worsen the impact on trade in the coming days.

The bottling includes 40 bulk carriers that transport crops to dry goods such as cement, as well as ships that load petroleum, fuel and chemicals. There are also eight ships carrying cattle, more than 30 general cargo ships and an oil tanker.

There is also nine ships carrying clean petroleum products, with biodiesel, stationed on the outskirts of Suez, awaiting the resumption of convoys heading north. About 13 million barrels of crude in 10 tankers could be affected by the blackout, according to Arthur Richier, senior freight analyst at Vortexa.

If a ship wanted to turn around and reach its destination bypassing Africa, he should extend his trip seven more days than planned, which would translate into hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional expenses.

(With agency information)

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