Efforts to dislodge a giant container ship from the Suez Canal continued as rescue teams tried to get traffic moving again in the one of the world’s most important waterways.
The Ever Given, a container ship longer than the Eiffel Tower that ran aground in the southern part of the canal in Egypt, is still stuck in position, said Ahmed Mekawy, the deputy manager for the Suez Canal for GAC, a provider of port-agent services.
Traffic should resume today or tomorrow, Mekawy said earlier on Wednesday. He later said he’d received some wrong information about whether the ship had been moved, but it was unclear whether that affected this timetable.
The incident has left dozens of vessels gridlocked as they attempted to transit between the Red Sea and Mediterranean. Efforts to move the ship had appeared to be proceeding faster than initial warnings that traffic through the canal could be choked off for days. The Suez Canal Authority hasn’t yet commented on when traffic could resume.
The 193-kilometer-long (120 miles) Suez Canal is among the most trafficked waterways in the world, used by tankers shipping crude from the Middle East to Europe and North America. About 12% of global trade and 8% of liquefied natural gas pass through the canal, as do around 1 million barrels of oil each day.
The disruption comes at a time when oil prices were already volatile. Crude surged above $70 a barrel earlier this month on Saudi production cuts, only to slump close to $60 this week due to setbacks in Europe’s coronavirus vaccine program.
Brent crude rose 2.2% to $62.13 as of 11:42 a.m. in London.
The Ever Given was grounded early Tuesday amid poor visibility caused by a dust storm and wind speeds that reached 40 knots, resulting in a “loss of the ability to steer the ship,” according to the canal authority.
The vessel deviated “from its course due to suspected sudden strong wind,” Taiwan-based Evergreen Line, the time charterer of the vessel, said in an emailed response to questions. Japan’s Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd., among those listed as the ship’s owner, declined to comment.
About 42 vessels either in the northbound convoy or arriving to transit the canal in that direction were waiting for the Ever Given to be re-floated, Leth Agencies, one of the top providers of Suez Canal crossing services, said in a notice to clients. The company said it is sending a dredger to help free the ship.
About 64 vessels traveling southbound were also affected. GAC said 15 affected ships are waiting at anchorage.
Navigation is possible along the old canal, the canal authority said. But the vessel is stuck at a point that can’t be bypassed so the old canal can’t help.
Ever Given was traveling from China to Rotterdam. The crew are safe and accounted for, and there have been no reports of injuries or pollution, according to the ship’s manager, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement. The vessel is carrying cargo for logistics company Orient Overseas Container Line Ltd., according to Mark Wong, a spokesman for OOCL.
At 400 meters in length, Ever Given was built in Japan about three years ago. Shipping companies have been turning to mega-sized vessels to help improve economies of scale, while some key routes—including the Suez Canal—have been widened and deepened over the years to accommodate them.
