Huge ship still blocking Suez Canal like 'beached whale' leaves global trade in a jam
Yasmine Salam and Charlene Gubash and Olivier Fabre
International efforts to dislodge the skyscraper-sized cargo ship blocking Egypt’s Suez Canal intensified but made little progress Thursday as the maritime traffic jam wreaked havoc on global trade.
International efforts to dislodge the skyscraper-sized cargo ship blocking Egypt’s Suez Canal intensified but made little progress Thursday as the maritime traffic jam wreaked havoc on global trade.
© Provided by NBC News
Egyptian authorities said navigation was still “temporarily suspended” after the container got stuck sideways across the canal due to a severe dust storm and poor visibility.
That meant traffic remained at a standstill on a route that accounts for roughly 12 percent of global trade as the shipping saga passed the 48-hour mark.
A fleet of eight large tugboats were dispatched to refloat the jammed container vessel, the Suez Canal Authority said in a statement on Thursday.
Taiwanese shipping company Evergreen, which operates the stranded tanker, announced that two professional rescue teams from Japan and the Netherlands were now helping Egyptian authorities to create a more “effective plan.”
Meanwhile the technical manager of the vessel, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, said it had “intensified efforts” to refloat the ship by sending “specialized suction dredgers” to the site after an attempt this morning failed.
“Another attempt will be made later today,” the statement added.
Tug boats struggle with giant container ship blocking Suez Canal
But experts said that the frenzied flotation efforts could take longer than many would hope.
Egyptian authorities said navigation was still “temporarily suspended” after the container got stuck sideways across the canal due to a severe dust storm and poor visibility.
That meant traffic remained at a standstill on a route that accounts for roughly 12 percent of global trade as the shipping saga passed the 48-hour mark.
A fleet of eight large tugboats were dispatched to refloat the jammed container vessel, the Suez Canal Authority said in a statement on Thursday.
Taiwanese shipping company Evergreen, which operates the stranded tanker, announced that two professional rescue teams from Japan and the Netherlands were now helping Egyptian authorities to create a more “effective plan.”
Meanwhile the technical manager of the vessel, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, said it had “intensified efforts” to refloat the ship by sending “specialized suction dredgers” to the site after an attempt this morning failed.
“Another attempt will be made later today,” the statement added.
Tug boats struggle with giant container ship blocking Suez Canal
But experts said that the frenzied flotation efforts could take longer than many would hope.
Peter Berdowski, CEO of Dutch company Boskalis, one of the maritime service providers currently trying to free the ship, said the rescue mission was far from straight forward.
“It is like an enormous beached whale. It's an enormous weight on the sand,” he said, speaking to Dutch TV.
“We might have to work with a combination of reducing the weight by removing containers, oil and water from the ship, tug boats and dredging of sand.”
"We can't exclude it might take weeks, depending on the situation," he added.
“We have already seen a jump in the price of oil because of the tankers that are sitting at anchor in the Red Sea,” Laleh Khalili, a professor in international politics at Queen Mary University in London, told NBC News.
Even when rescue efforts are successful, “the backlog of ships could take a week or so to clear,” she added.
At least 150 other tankers have been waiting to pass through the narrow canal since the 400 meter long Ever Given ship got stuck sideways on Tuesday morning, running aground after gusting winds of 30 knots caused the vessel to deviate from its course.
The Suez Canal usually allows 50 cargo ships pass daily between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, providing a vital trade corridor between Europe and Asia.
Photos released by Suez authorities showed a digger removing earth and rock from the canal's bank and around the ship's bow
“It is like an enormous beached whale. It's an enormous weight on the sand,” he said, speaking to Dutch TV.
“We might have to work with a combination of reducing the weight by removing containers, oil and water from the ship, tug boats and dredging of sand.”
"We can't exclude it might take weeks, depending on the situation," he added.
“We have already seen a jump in the price of oil because of the tankers that are sitting at anchor in the Red Sea,” Laleh Khalili, a professor in international politics at Queen Mary University in London, told NBC News.
Even when rescue efforts are successful, “the backlog of ships could take a week or so to clear,” she added.
At least 150 other tankers have been waiting to pass through the narrow canal since the 400 meter long Ever Given ship got stuck sideways on Tuesday morning, running aground after gusting winds of 30 knots caused the vessel to deviate from its course.
The Suez Canal usually allows 50 cargo ships pass daily between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, providing a vital trade corridor between Europe and Asia.
Photos released by Suez authorities showed a digger removing earth and rock from the canal's bank and around the ship's bow
.
© Suez Canal Authority Image: Taiwan-owned MV Ever Given which is lodged sideways and impeding all traffic across the waterway of Egypt's Suez Canal (Suez Canal Authority / AFP - Getty Images)
“They would try to be removing anything that is easy to remove, but the location where they are stuck is not near a port, it's actually quite a distance away from anything,” Professor Jasper Graham-Jones, a mechanical marine engineer from Plymouth University told Sky News.
“This is where the clear option is lots and lots of tug boats and digging around the sides.”
(Sky News is owned by Comcast, the parent company of NBC News.)
Evergreen said it has “urged the shipowner to investigate” the source of the accident.
The ship's owners apologized on Thursday for the disruption the maritime traffic jam has caused.
“We sincerely regret that this accident has caused a great deal of concern to the ships sailing or scheduled to sail in the Suez Canal,” said the Japanese company Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd.
Nearly 19,000 ships with a net tonnage of 1.17 billion metric tons passed through the canal last year, according to the Suez Canal Authority.
Traffic jams are rare. In 2017 a Japanese container vessel blocked the canal but Egyptian authorities refloated the ship within hours.
"In the long term, this delay may force some re-thinking about ship sizes," said Khalili of Queen Mary University. "And if there are issues associated with who is going to take responsibility for the accident ... that may force a reckoning in shipping ownership structures."
Suez is still remembered for being at the heart of an international crisis in 1956 after Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nassar nationalized the canal, previously in British and French ownership. The move led to an invasion that resulted in humiliation for the western European powers.
“They would try to be removing anything that is easy to remove, but the location where they are stuck is not near a port, it's actually quite a distance away from anything,” Professor Jasper Graham-Jones, a mechanical marine engineer from Plymouth University told Sky News.
“This is where the clear option is lots and lots of tug boats and digging around the sides.”
(Sky News is owned by Comcast, the parent company of NBC News.)
Evergreen said it has “urged the shipowner to investigate” the source of the accident.
The ship's owners apologized on Thursday for the disruption the maritime traffic jam has caused.
“We sincerely regret that this accident has caused a great deal of concern to the ships sailing or scheduled to sail in the Suez Canal,” said the Japanese company Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd.
Nearly 19,000 ships with a net tonnage of 1.17 billion metric tons passed through the canal last year, according to the Suez Canal Authority.
Traffic jams are rare. In 2017 a Japanese container vessel blocked the canal but Egyptian authorities refloated the ship within hours.
"In the long term, this delay may force some re-thinking about ship sizes," said Khalili of Queen Mary University. "And if there are issues associated with who is going to take responsibility for the accident ... that may force a reckoning in shipping ownership structures."
Suez is still remembered for being at the heart of an international crisis in 1956 after Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nassar nationalized the canal, previously in British and French ownership. The move led to an invasion that resulted in humiliation for the western European powers.
$400 MILLION PER HOUR IN LOSES SAYS LLOYDS
© Provided by The Canadian Press
ISMAILIA, Egypt — Dredgers, tugboats and even a backhoe failed to free a giant cargo ship wedged in Egypt’s Suez Canal on Thursday as the number of stacked-up vessels unable to pass through the vital waterway climbed to 150 and losses to global shipping mounted.
The skyscraper-sized Ever Given, carrying cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground Tuesday in the narrow, man-made canal dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula. Even with the aid of high tides, authorities have been unable to push the Panama-flagged container vessel aside, and they are looking for new ideas to free it.
In a sign of the turmoil the blockage has caused, the ship's Japanese owner even offered a written apology.
“We are determined to keep on working hard to resolve this situation as soon as possible,” Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd. said. “We would like to apologize to all parties affected by this incident, including the ships travelling and planning to travel through Suez Canal.”
As efforts to free it resumed at daylight Thursday, an Egyptian canal authority official said workers hoped to avoid offloading containers from the vessel as it would take days to do so and extend the closure. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to talk to journalists.
So far, dredgers have tried to clear silt around the massive ship. Tug boats nudged the vessel alongside it, trying to gain momentum. From the shore, at least one backhoe dug into the canal's sandy banks, suggesting the bow of the ship had plowed into it. However, satellite photos taken Thursday by Planet Labs Inc. and analyzed by The Associated Press showed the vessel still stuck in the same location.
Lt. Gen. Osama Rabei, the head of the canal authority, said navigation through the waterway would remain halted until the Ever Given is refloated. A team from Boskalis, a Dutch firm specialized in salvaging, arrived at the canal Thursday, although one of its top officials warned removing the vessel could take “days to weeks."
A team from the Boskalis subsidiary SMIT "spent the day doing inspections and doing calculations to assess the state of the vessel and a plan on how to refloat the vessel,” spokesman Martijn Schuttevaer told the AP. He did not offer a time frame.
The Suez Canal Authority said one idea the team discussed was scraping the bottom of the canal around the ship.
Boskalis chairman Peter Berdowski on Wednesday described the ship as “a very heavy whale on the beach.”
“The ship, with the weight it now has, can’t really be pulled free. You can forget it,” he told the Dutch current affairs program “Nieuwsuur.”
Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the company that manages the Ever Given, said its 25-member crew was safe and accounted for. Shoei Kisen Kaisha said all the crew came from India.
The ship had two pilots from Egypt's canal authority aboard the vessel to guide it when the grounding happened around 7:45 a.m. Tuesday, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement said.
Canal service provider Leth Agencies said at least 150 ships were waiting for the Ever Given to be cleared, including vessels near Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea, Port Suez on the Red Sea and those already stuck in the canal system on Egypt's Great Bitter Lake.
Cargo ships already behind the Ever Given in the canal will be reversed south back to Port Suez to free the channel, Leth Agencies said. Authorities hope to do the same to the Ever Given when they can free it.
Evergreen Marine Corp., a major Taiwan-based shipping company that operates the ship, said the Ever Given had been overcome by strong winds as it entered the canal, something Egyptian officials earlier said as well. High winds and a sandstorm plagued the area Tuesday, with winds gusting to 50 kph (30 mph).
An initial report suggested the ship suffered a power blackout before the incident, something Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement denied.
“Initial investigations rule out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the grounding,” the company said.
In Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters the Suez Canal is part of a crucial international sea lane, and that the Japanese government was gathering information and working with local authorities.
The closure could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Mideast, which rely on the canal to avoid sailing around Africa. The price of international benchmark Brent crude stood at over $63 a barrel Thursday.
Overall, famed shipping journal Lloyd's List estimates each day the Suez Canal is closed disrupts over $9 billion worth of goods that should be passing through the waterway. A quarter of all Suez Canal traffic a day comes from container ships like the Ever Given, the journal said.
“Blocking something like the Suez Canal really sets in motion a number of dominos toppling each other over,” said Lars Jensen, chief executive of Denmark-based SeaIntelligence Consulting. “The effect is not only going to be the simple, immediate one with cargo being delayed over the next few weeks, but will actually have repercussions several months down the line for the supply chain.”
The Ever Given, built in 2018 with a length of nearly 400 metres (a quarter mile) and a width of 59 metres (193 feet), is among the largest cargo ships in the world. It can carry some 20,000 containers at a time. It previously had been at ports in China before heading toward Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
Opened in 1869, the Suez Canal provides a crucial link for oil, natural gas and cargo. It also remains one of Egypt’s top foreign currency earners. In 2015, the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi completed a major expansion of the canal, allowing it to accommodate the world’s largest vessels. However, the Ever Given ran aground south of that new portion of the canal.
The stranding Tuesday marks just the latest to affect mariners amid the pandemic. Hundreds of thousands have been stuck aboard vessels due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, demands on shipping have increased, adding to the pressure on tired sailors.
___
Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Isabel DeBre in Dubai and Mike Corder at The Hague, Netherlands, contributed.
Jon Gambrell And Samy Magdy, The Associated Press
ISMAILIA, Egypt — Dredgers, tugboats and even a backhoe failed to free a giant cargo ship wedged in Egypt’s Suez Canal on Thursday as the number of stacked-up vessels unable to pass through the vital waterway climbed to 150 and losses to global shipping mounted.
The skyscraper-sized Ever Given, carrying cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground Tuesday in the narrow, man-made canal dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula. Even with the aid of high tides, authorities have been unable to push the Panama-flagged container vessel aside, and they are looking for new ideas to free it.
In a sign of the turmoil the blockage has caused, the ship's Japanese owner even offered a written apology.
“We are determined to keep on working hard to resolve this situation as soon as possible,” Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd. said. “We would like to apologize to all parties affected by this incident, including the ships travelling and planning to travel through Suez Canal.”
As efforts to free it resumed at daylight Thursday, an Egyptian canal authority official said workers hoped to avoid offloading containers from the vessel as it would take days to do so and extend the closure. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to talk to journalists.
So far, dredgers have tried to clear silt around the massive ship. Tug boats nudged the vessel alongside it, trying to gain momentum. From the shore, at least one backhoe dug into the canal's sandy banks, suggesting the bow of the ship had plowed into it. However, satellite photos taken Thursday by Planet Labs Inc. and analyzed by The Associated Press showed the vessel still stuck in the same location.
Lt. Gen. Osama Rabei, the head of the canal authority, said navigation through the waterway would remain halted until the Ever Given is refloated. A team from Boskalis, a Dutch firm specialized in salvaging, arrived at the canal Thursday, although one of its top officials warned removing the vessel could take “days to weeks."
A team from the Boskalis subsidiary SMIT "spent the day doing inspections and doing calculations to assess the state of the vessel and a plan on how to refloat the vessel,” spokesman Martijn Schuttevaer told the AP. He did not offer a time frame.
The Suez Canal Authority said one idea the team discussed was scraping the bottom of the canal around the ship.
Boskalis chairman Peter Berdowski on Wednesday described the ship as “a very heavy whale on the beach.”
“The ship, with the weight it now has, can’t really be pulled free. You can forget it,” he told the Dutch current affairs program “Nieuwsuur.”
Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the company that manages the Ever Given, said its 25-member crew was safe and accounted for. Shoei Kisen Kaisha said all the crew came from India.
The ship had two pilots from Egypt's canal authority aboard the vessel to guide it when the grounding happened around 7:45 a.m. Tuesday, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement said.
Canal service provider Leth Agencies said at least 150 ships were waiting for the Ever Given to be cleared, including vessels near Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea, Port Suez on the Red Sea and those already stuck in the canal system on Egypt's Great Bitter Lake.
Cargo ships already behind the Ever Given in the canal will be reversed south back to Port Suez to free the channel, Leth Agencies said. Authorities hope to do the same to the Ever Given when they can free it.
Evergreen Marine Corp., a major Taiwan-based shipping company that operates the ship, said the Ever Given had been overcome by strong winds as it entered the canal, something Egyptian officials earlier said as well. High winds and a sandstorm plagued the area Tuesday, with winds gusting to 50 kph (30 mph).
An initial report suggested the ship suffered a power blackout before the incident, something Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement denied.
“Initial investigations rule out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the grounding,” the company said.
In Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters the Suez Canal is part of a crucial international sea lane, and that the Japanese government was gathering information and working with local authorities.
The closure could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Mideast, which rely on the canal to avoid sailing around Africa. The price of international benchmark Brent crude stood at over $63 a barrel Thursday.
Overall, famed shipping journal Lloyd's List estimates each day the Suez Canal is closed disrupts over $9 billion worth of goods that should be passing through the waterway. A quarter of all Suez Canal traffic a day comes from container ships like the Ever Given, the journal said.
“Blocking something like the Suez Canal really sets in motion a number of dominos toppling each other over,” said Lars Jensen, chief executive of Denmark-based SeaIntelligence Consulting. “The effect is not only going to be the simple, immediate one with cargo being delayed over the next few weeks, but will actually have repercussions several months down the line for the supply chain.”
The Ever Given, built in 2018 with a length of nearly 400 metres (a quarter mile) and a width of 59 metres (193 feet), is among the largest cargo ships in the world. It can carry some 20,000 containers at a time. It previously had been at ports in China before heading toward Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
Opened in 1869, the Suez Canal provides a crucial link for oil, natural gas and cargo. It also remains one of Egypt’s top foreign currency earners. In 2015, the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi completed a major expansion of the canal, allowing it to accommodate the world’s largest vessels. However, the Ever Given ran aground south of that new portion of the canal.
The stranding Tuesday marks just the latest to affect mariners amid the pandemic. Hundreds of thousands have been stuck aboard vessels due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, demands on shipping have increased, adding to the pressure on tired sailors.
___
Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Isabel DeBre in Dubai and Mike Corder at The Hague, Netherlands, contributed.
Jon Gambrell And Samy Magdy, The Associated Press
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