CAIRO (Reuters) – Europe’s shortest sea route to Asia remained blocked on Wednesday as 10 tugboats struggled to free one of the world’s largest container ships after it ran aground on the Suez Canal.
Ever Given, 400 meters and 224,000 tonnes, ran aground on Tuesday morning after losing its driving ability amid strong winds and a sandstorm, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said in a statement .
About 30% of global container transport volumes pass through the channel every day, transporting everything from fuel to consumer goods. The main alternative route for ships traveling between Asia and Europe, around the African Cape, takes an extra week to navigate.
GAC, a Dubai-based maritime services company, said that authorities are still working to release the ship by Wednesday afternoon, and that the information it previously received, claiming that the ship was partially reflected, was inaccurate .
Images posted by the SCA appeared to show the ship positioned diagonally along the channel, blocking its full width, while tugboats tried to dislodge it. The photos showed an excavator removing earth and rock from the bank of the canal around the bow of the ship.
An officer said the work to free the ship could continue into the night, weather permitting.
The SCA president told local media that despite the blockade, a train to the south was moving and that the authority was trying to keep traffic flowing between the waiting areas in the best possible way, while rescue efforts continued.
“As soon as we get this boat out, things are going to go back to normal. God willing, we’re done today, ”said President Osama Rabie. The authority was considering compensation for delayed ships, he said.
About 12% of the volume of world trade passes through the channel, and is an important source of hard currency for Egypt, generating US $ 5.6 billion in 2020.
The tracking maps showed the ship stranded on the southernmost stretch of the waterway, between the Great Bitter Lake and the port of Suez on the Red Sea.
At least 30 ships were blocked north of Ever Given and three south, local sources said. Several dozen ships could also be seen grouped around the northern and southern entrances to the canal.
REBALANCE EFFORTS
SCA said it was trying to rebalance the ship, and local sources said efforts could change to dig it up if the tugs were unable to release it.
Dutch maritime services company Boskalis said its subsidiary Smit Salvage was hired to assist in the operation and would send 10 people to Egypt.
In such cases, “you really have to do the calculations to understand how solidly it (is) grounded and how much force you can exert without damaging the vessel,” Boskalis spokesman Martijn Schuttevaer told Reuters.
Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), the ship’s technical manager, said Ever Given ran aground on the channel at around 05:40 GMT on Tuesday. He said an investigation was underway.
BSM said the crew was safe and there were no reports of pollution. A BSM spokesman said the ship was owned by Japan’s Shoei Kisen KK, declining to provide further details. Shoei Kisen KK could not be reached for comment.
Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine Corp, which is renting the ship, said the owner said the ship “was suspected of having been hit by a sudden strong wind, causing the hull to deviate from the waterway and accidentally hit the background”.
The ship was probably insured for $ 100-140 million, insurance brokers say.
SUPPLY CONCERNS
Dozens of ships carrying crude oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and retail products were unable to navigate the channel on Wednesday, potentially disrupting supplies to global markets, marine sources said.
Oil analyst firm Vortexa said ten tankers carrying 13 million barrels of oil could be affected. Oil prices rose more than 2%. [O/R]
On Wednesday, five tankers loaded with LNG were unable to pass through the canal due to the stranded container ship, according to data intelligence firm Kpler.
Of the five, three went to Asia and two to Europe, said Rebecca Chia, an analyst at Kpler. She said that if congestion persists by the end of this week, it will affect the transit of 15 LNG tankers.
During 2020, almost 19,000 ships, or an average of 51.5 per day, passed through the channel, according to SCA.
If Ever Given remains stuck for up to 48 hours, “the impact will be limited to a gradual worsening of the ship’s already very serious delays,” said Niels Madsen, VP of Product and Operations for Sea-Intelligence, based in Denmark.
“If, on the other hand, the Suez Canal remains blocked for another 3-5 days, then it will start to have very serious global ramifications,” he said.
Reporting by Yusri Mohamed in Ismailia, Egypt, and Jessica Jaganathan, Florence Tan, Roslan Khasawneh, Gavin Maguire and Koustav Samanta in Singapore, Yimou Lee in Taipei and Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo; Additional reporting by Carolyn Cohn and Jonathan Saul in London, Mahmoud Mourad in Cairo, Anthony Deutsch in Amsterdam; Written by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Tom Hogue, Jan Harvey and Mark Potter