The intention is to block the Suez Canal after a large shipwreck enters its third day, as pressure mounts on authorities to once again flush one of the world’s major trading arteries.
Efforts to deliver the 220,000-tonne, 400-meter-long plant will resume early Thursday after a brief overnight halt, canal service provider Half Agencies said, amid fears the operation could take weeks if the vessel must be loaded.
At the same time, at least 150 vessels full of oil, auto parts and consumer goods have gathered on each side of the Asia-Europe trade channel, through which about 50 ships a day pass passed in 2019, representing nearly a third of the world’s ship traffic. Industry experts warned that a flood of insurance claims covered the amount of cargo maintained.
The Ever Given, a Panama and Taiwan-flagged ship, went ashore Tuesday morning. The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said the boat lost its ability to navigate amid high winds and a dust storm.
Ever since then, scrapers have been clearing sand and mud from all over the ship, while the Ever Given’s own tugboats and winches are trying to move the ship, Bernhard said Schulte Shipmanagement, technical manager of the Ever Given, Wednesday. Excavators on the bank have also been excavating the arch section.
GAC, a Dubai-based marine services company, said on Wednesday that the vessel had been partially refurbished and was now lying along the canal bank. “Convoys and traffic are expected to start returning as soon as a vessel is towed to another position,” he said.
Ship tracking software shows that the Ever Given has only made minor changes to its position over the past 24 hours.
Freight ships locked behind the Ever Given will be flown south back to Port Suez to free the channel, Leth Agencies said. Authorities hope to do the same for the Ever Given when they can release it.
Bernhard Schulte denied early reports that the vessel had lost power, saying: “Initial investigations rule any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the foundation.”
The vessel had two pilots from the Egyptian canal authority on board the vessel to steer it when the ground hit around 7.45am on Tuesday, the company said, and all 25 crews were safe and unsafe. any reports of injury or contamination.
The vessel’s operator Evergreen Marine Corp. said in a statement that strong winds crossed the Ever Given as it entered the Red Sea waterway but none of its vessels had sunk. An Egyptian official who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity blamed strong winds. Egyptian forecasters said high winds and a sandstorm were disturbing the region on Tuesday, with peaks of up to 50km / h (30mph).
Lieutenant General Ossama Rabei, head of the Suez Canal Authority, said: “The Suez Canal will not undermine any efforts to ensure navigational renewal and to serve a global trade movement.”
A pilot from the Egyptian canal authority usually boards a ship to steer it through the canal, although the captain of the vessel retains final authority over the vessel, said Ranjith Raja, chief analyst at data company Refinitiv. The vessel entered the waterway 45 minutes before takeoff, moving at 12.8 knots (approximately 24km / h or 15mph) just prior to the incident, he said.
We’ve been getting a lot of requests asking us to compare today’s traffic at the #SuezCanal with a normal day at the canal.
So here you go, using our replay feature, one day last week compared to the last 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/pnByGshl3u– MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) March 24, 2021
The blockade could have a major impact on global shipping between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, warned Salvatore R Mercogliano, a merchant seaman and associate professor of history at Campbell University of North Carolina. “Every day the canal is closed … ships and tankers do not deliver food, fuel and manufactured goods to Europe and goods are not exported from Europe to the Far East,” he said.
In addition to the economic effects, security experts warned that ships resting in the Red Sea could be targets following a series of anti-shipping attacks in the Middle East amid tensions between Iran and the United States. SA.
“All vessels should consider adopting a higher warning position if asked to stay as they are within the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden,” he warned private maritime information company Dryad Global.
The closure could also affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Middle East. Brent crude international benchmark price stood at more than $ 63 per barrel on Thursday.
The Ever Given, built in 2018, is among the largest cargo ships in the world. It can carry 20,000 boxes at a time. He had previously sailed at ports in China before heading to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
Opened in 1869, the Suez Canal provides an essential link for oil, natural gas and cargo. He is also one of Egypt ‘s leading foreign currency earners. In 2015, the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi completed a major widening of the canal, allowing it to take over the largest vessels in the world. The Ever Given landed south of that new section of canal.
The Associated Press