How are the desperate attempts to save the Ever Given

How to unload a container ship 400 meters long whose rod is half buried at the edge of a channel essential to world trade? Dig, remove sand and haul it with tugs, hoping all goes well.

On Friday they tried to disembark, in vain, the container ship Ever Given, stranded since Tuesday in the Suez Canal, according to the company Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (SPM), a company based in Singapore and responsible for the technical management of the ship over 200,000 tonnes.

At least eight boats and four excavators are involved in the efforts to unravel this traffic jam which has caught over 200 freighters and tankers at a time of unprecedented demand that could take weeks to resolve.

“As far as all the rescue operations I have been able to do, it seems to be straightforward. disconcerting “, however, told the AFP the former commander Yvon Mounes, who was formerly in charge of the rescue operations of the owner of Les Abeilles, specialized in towing operations.

“Of course he has the arc bulb [la protuberancia de la parte delantera del barco] in the sand, but that’s not really a problem, ”he explained. “The sand is removed and the boat floats naturally!” In principle, the ship is not damaged, because in this area there are no rocks, according to him.

The Ever Given “is not only stuck in the sand on the surface, it is also trapped in the shore”, however, told the AFP Plamen Natzkoff, expert at the consultancy firm VasselsValue.

“We’ll have to dig where the ship is stuck so that it can move again. And it is clearly a great job “Natzkoff reflects.

To do this, according to the expert, Excavators will be needed to dig the shore and dredges will be needed to suck up the sand under the boat. After that, the tugs can intervene. “Egypt has the capacity to provide the necessary manpower. But it is clear that it’s a big logistical challenge and it will take time “, he pointed out.

Rescue teams are expected to hurry to take advantage of the high tide on Sunday evening. “If they do not manage to dislodge it, the next high tide will not come for two weeks and that could be problematic”added.

According to the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), between 15,000 and 20,000 cubic meters of sand will have to be removed to reach between 12 and 16 meters deep and be able to float the colossal container ship.

Egypt has received several proposals for international aid, in particular from the United States, and this Friday from Turkey, which offered a large tug.

For Sunday, the deployment of two other tugs, between 220 and 240 tons, is expected. explained Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement.

But no one can predict with certainty the duration of operations. An official with the Dutch company Smit Salvage, called on to save the ship, said on Wednesday that it could take “days, even weeks” to get the “Ever Given” afloat.

The Ever Given grounding, which occurred on Tuesday probably due to high winds combined with a sandstorm, caused serious traffic jams.

This incident is delaying shipments of consumer goods from Asia to Europe and North America, as well as agricultural products moving in the opposite direction. Some 237 ships, including tankers and dozens of container ships, were waiting to transit through the canal, which handles around 12% of global trade, on Friday.

Shipping giant Maersk and Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd have said they are considering hijacking their ships and passing through the Cape of Good Hope, a 9,000-kilometer, 10-day journey to the edge of the African continent.

About 19,000 ships crossed the canal in 2020, according to the SCA, an average of just over 51 ships per day.

According to an Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty report on maritime safety, “the Suez Canal presents an excellent balance between safety as a whole and maritime incidents are extremely rare, with 75 incidents in the last decade”.

With information from AFP

KEEP READING: