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Despite the frustrated attempts, the channel authorities redoubled their efforts this Friday to free the ‘Ever Given’. For its part, the company in charge of the container ship specified that before March 28 another two tugboats would join the task, to stop a blockade that has raised the transport rates of tankers and has disrupted the global supply chains of everything type of products. From cereals and coffee to baby clothes.
Will it take days or weeks to unblock the Suez Canal? During this Friday, the efforts to free the container ship that has been clogging the canal for four days, due to its size of four football fields, have continued and continue to continue.
The Suez Canal Authority reported that 87% of the work has been completed to dislodge the ‘Ever Given’ and that some 17,000 cubic meters of sand have been removed, thanks to the “Mashhur” dredge.
The machine began to excavate yesterday at a distance of 100 meters from the bow of the ship and today it stood at about 15 meters, also reaching a depth of 15 meters, the Authority detailed in a statement. Although it will not be able to approach more than ten meters for safety, the managing authority assured that “land collapses” will occur after removing the bulk of the sand that surrounds the bulb.
Several unsuccessful “rescue” attempts
While several unsuccessful attempts have already been made to move the container ship, two additional tugs will join operations before this Sunday, March 28, according to the cargo management company, the multinational Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM).
The company hired to “rescue” the ‘Ever Given’ was prudent about the process, suggesting that it would take “days or even weeks” for traffic to resume in the canal, which carries more than 10% of international maritime trade. according to experts, threatening costly delays for companies already grappling with Covid-19 restrictions.
The 25 crew members, who have remained on board, are safe, in good health and in good spirits, according to Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement: “No contamination or damage to cargo has been reported and initial investigations they rule out any mechanical or engine failure as the cause of the grounding. “
The United States provides aid to the Suez Canal
In Washington, the White House said the Joe Biden administration was seeing the impact of the incident on energy markets and would respond to the situation if necessary. “We have offered the Egyptian authorities US assistance to help reopen the canal. We are consulting with our Egyptian partners to see how we can better support their efforts,” Jen Psaki, a White House spokeswoman, said Friday.
The Suez Canal Authority responded that it welcomed the offer of assistance. Turkey also said it could even send a ship into the canal, amid an push from Ankara to repair ties with Egypt after years of animosity.
However, with each passing day, more ships are anchored in the northern access of the channel (in the Mediterranean Sea) and in the southern access (in the Red Sea) waiting to be able to cross: this Friday there were already 248, according to the magazine specialized in maritime transport Lloyd’s List.
The same source said that the jammed container ship could cost world trade the equivalent of some 9.6 billion dollars (8.1 billion euros) of cargo each day.
Indeed, tanker transportation rates have almost doubled after the incident. Oil prices rose more than 3% on Friday as more than 30 tankers have been waiting on both sides of the canal since Tuesday, according to Refinitiv transportation data.
However, the delays come at a time of low seasonal demand for crude oil and liquefied natural gas, which will likely mitigate the impact on prices, according to analysts.
At least four Long-Range 2 tankers, which could have headed for Suez from the Atlantic basin, are likely now assessing a passage around the Cape of Good Hope, a 9,000-kilometer detour around the African continent, according to data from the shipping agent. Braemar ACM Shipbroking.
Four soccer fields and 220,000 tons
The ‘Ever Given’ – which is longer than four football fields and weighs 220,000 tons – was diverted on Tuesday amid strong gusts of wind and a sandstorm that affected Egypt and parts of the Middle East. The Panamanian-flagged ship then intervened in the south of the canal, near the city of Suez, blocking all navigation between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, in both directions.
The ship’s operator, Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine Corp, said the ship, which was sailing from the Chinese port of Yantian to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, ran aground “probably after being hit by a gust of wind, while the winds reached 40 knots (74 kilometers / hour) “.
The channel sees pass, according to experts, more than 10% of international maritime trade. Almost 19,000 ships used the canal in 2020, an average of 51.5 ships per day.
Inaugurated in 1869, its construction has drastically reduced the distances between Asia and Europe: 6,000 kilometers less between Singapore and Rotterdam, for example. But the canal has already been clogged in the past, especially during the Suez crisis of 1956, when ships were sunk by Egyptian authorities.
With AFP, Reuters and EFE
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source https://pledgetimes.com/while-trying-to-refloat-the-ship-more-than-240-ships-wait-to-cross-the-suez-canal/
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