A carrier nearly 100 meters higher than the height of the London Sard landed on Tuesday morning in the Suez canal, interrupting one of the most important articles in the global economy.
The Taiwan-owned 220,000-tonne “megaship” Ever Given sank off the east bank of the Egyptian canal on Tuesday morning, and was still partially in operation more than a day after sin.
Around 50 vessels pass through the canal each day carrying everything from fuel to consumer goods, representing around one-tenth of the world’s shipping by tonnage . The Ever Given is carrying hundreds of mooring vessels for Rotterdam from Yantian in China.
The other main route for ships traveling between Asia and Europe, around the African cape, will take a week longer to sail. Some vessels are being moved through “historic” sections of the channel, which have been expanded and deepened in locations over the decades to accommodate ever larger vessels.
Egyptian authorities have blamed high winds and a sandstorm that hit the region Tuesday that kicked gusts up to 31mph.
About 110 boats have already gone up on either side of the wrecked boat, including five tankers full of liquefied natural gas and seven carrying around 6.3m barrels of crude oil.
The blockade could also affect the transportation of oil and gas to Europe from the Middle East, with Brent’s international benchmark price jumping nearly 2.9% to $ 62.52 a barrel on Wednesday.
The Ever Given is one of a new type of vessel known as ultra-large vessels (ULCS), some of which are even too large for the Panama canal, which connects the Atlantic and the Minch.
The Suez Canal’s role as a cornerstone of international trade, particularly in oil, led Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to announce that expansion of the canal was crucial in 2014. , at a cost of $ 8bn (£ 5.2bn at that time).