They suspend traffic in the Suez Canal due to the ship’s failure and warn that its withdrawal will be “extremely difficult”

The Suez Canal has temporarily suspended traffic this Thursday, while work on 8 tugs continues unload the 400-meter-long container ship that blocked the world’s most important waterway for 3 days.

El never gave have been framed diagonally across the single-track section of the southern canal last Tuesday. Strong winds and a dust storm were the causes that negated the maneuverability of the colossus that measures as much as the Empire State skyscraper. As the days passed, the bow and stern of the ship rose on both sides of the canal.

“It’s like a huge stranded whale. It’s a huge weight in the sand. We may have to work with a combination of weight reduction by removing containers, oil and water from the ship, tugs and sand dredging, ”said Peter Berdowski, CEO of Boskalis, the company that runs the ship. rescue operation. it is too early to say how long to accept the position. “We cannot rule out weeks.”

So far there is 8 giant tugs trying to push him back from the banks of the canal as soon as possible. The urgency is because it is traffic suspended in both directions of the strategic route for the exchange of oil, grains and other products between Europe and Asia.

Stranded ship blocks Suez Canal and hits just-in-time supply chains

According to the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), there is a convoy of 13 boats anchored in the waiting area, including other mega container ships, oil and gas and grain ships. It is, according to experts, one of the worst traffic jams in years on this 193 kilometer river route.

Around 30% of the global volume of sea containers pass through Suez: equivalent to 12% of international maritime trade.