After a week, finally, the Suez Canal waterway is unblocked but it cost a million dollar loss globally. It took around 14 tug boats to pull and push this 400m long container ship which would have not been possible without the help of nature. The engineers were relying on the high tidal waves that occurred Monday to completely free the Ever Given.
It’s not only a matter of celebration for the engineers and traders who were waiting for the blockage to get cleared so that they can resume the navigation. Instead, it was a global concern as the ship brought a loss of millions in just one single day. Imagine the loss the traders faced within a week.
A Week-Long Event Caused Million Dollar Loss
via:thechronicle
The Suez Canal is the shortest as well as the busiest trading route that connects the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Around 50 ships navigate through this 120.1 miles long route daily bringing huge revenue to Egypt.
According to the Suez Canal Authority, the EverGreen vessel caused a $14m-$15m loss every day hitting the GDP of Egypt badly. The route carries 12% of global trade whereby vessels containing oil barrels, LNG, and other goods rely on this route to carry out the transportation faster.
The blockage of the Suez Canal forced some ships to take an alternate route that is Cape of Good Hope which takes around 34 days to reach the other end. Well, the alternate route did save the traders and shipping industry from some amount of loss but it has deeply affected several firms and companies due to delays in receiving the goods.
How Did the Ever Given Blocked Suez Canal?
High tidal waves and poor weather stuck this mega-ship in a narrow canal as per the reports. However, the authorities of the Suez Canal blamed the lack of visibility and speed of vessels for the blockage. Considering the same situation for another ship coming from the southern end, officials said the captain of the mega-ship could prevent it by not entering the canal if the weather was bad.
The high speed of the ship made it lose control and wedged in the Canal. Considering these reasons, an investigation is ongoing to figure out the real cause of the blockage.
Tough Job Of Moving
via:EN24news
The ship titled ‘EverGreen’ is one of the massive vessels weighing 200,000 and 1,300 ft long so the challenge of moving it even by an inch and that to be manually was bigger than ever. A team of specialists took the help of 13 tug boats and dredgers to shift the vessel by few degrees.
It was stuck in a way that thousands of cubic meters of sand clogged the ship’s surface. So the first task was to remove the sand which helped the engineers to move the ship by 30 degrees. However, it was not sufficient enough to make way for other ships and unblock the canal.
At last, the only option was to unload the container ship. It was not at all easy as around 18,000 containers were loaded on the ship.
High tides on Monday ease the job and free up the Evergreen by straightening its position.
BREAKING: the ship is really moving now and horns are blaring in what sounds like celebration.
The stern has swung away from us and it looks like it’s really facing the right way now after hours of being jackknifed across the channel. pic.twitter.com/gTuvqWO5ta
— Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) March 29, 2021
It’s not over here, the ship will undergo investigation and safety checks for which it is now moved to Great Bitter Lake.