Traffic in the Suez Canal returned to normal 5 days after the evacuation of the Ever Given

5 days after disembarking a Panamanian vessel Never given, which was blocking the Suez Canal, authorities managing the waterway reported that all waiting vessels they could already cross the sea route. In addition, they underlined that they had managed to find the rhythm of navigation in record time.

When the container ship was pulled from the canal, the waiting list to cross it was long: 422 boats were waiting. The extent of the bottleneck led some ships to attempt to reach the Mediterranean Sea They will start to deviate by the Cape of Good Hope, on the edge of the African continent.

According to the Suez Canal Operations Manager, Osama Rabie, nowadays the circulation was 85 ships, which carried a total cargo of 4.2 million tonnes. Rabie said it would take 4 days to recover normal traffic on the channel. Instead, the Maersk company had calculated that it would happen in 6 days.

// The Ever Given simulator: test your skills to manage the ship that ran aground in the Suez Canal

The statement issued by the Egyptian authority which manages the seaway assured that the navigation was recovered in “record time”, which he saw as “a new achievement which adds to the capacity of the authority to manage emergencies and deal with crises”.

The Suez Canal is one of the most important sea routes in the world, connecting Asia and Europe, and maritime traffic accounts for more than 10% of international trade. In 2020, around 19,000 crossed the canal, or an average of 51 ships per day.

// They beach the cargo ship blocking the Suez Canal

200 people from the canal’s technical teams took part in the Ever Given rescue missions, assisted by the Dutch company Smit Salvage, specializing in ship rescue. Delimitation was an operation that required the use of a dozens of tugs, cranes and excavators and 30,000 cubic meters of sand were dredged.

The blockade of the strategic sea route caused significant economic losses. According to the insurer Allianz for each day of immobilization, between 6 and 10 billion dollars were lost. Egypt collects around $ 5.700 million annually for the use of passing vessels, due to the container ship incident they lost between $ 12 and $ 15 million per day.

// The Suez Canal Blockade Memes

Despite the fact that the broadcast has returned to normal, the legal dispute to analyze the responsibilities has only just begun. Companies that have been affected by the Ever Given grounding and the Egyptian state they started to calculate the damage and losses generated by the rental of dredging equipment. An estimated amount of $ 1 billion has been disbursed.

According to Osama RabieThis estimated figure comes from the calculation of unbilled transit fees, damage to the canal road during sand removal, freighter refloating efforts, and equipment and material costs. Everything indicates that the Egyptian authorities will attribute the blockade which put the world traffic of goods in check to the crew of the Ever Given a “human error”.