The Ever Given, a 224,000 ton container ship, is stuck in the narrow Suez canal connecting the Red and Mediterranean Seas. The ship managed to get wedged in the Suez canal following multiple sandstorms and high winds, and is now blocking up to 10% of all international trade. The only other route from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean involves going around the southern tip of Africa, but the Suez canal connects these two running through Egypt. The ship is nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall, and dislodging it from the canal will be a tremendous effort. The ship became stuck on March 23rd, and has caused a huge traffic jam in the region, as well as a disruption to global trade.
Local authorities made an unsuccessful attempt to refloat the ship, as well as attempts to dislodge the ship using tug-boats. However, experts have stated that dislodging the ship at its current weight will be nearly impossible. This means that they will have to unload either fuel or cargo from the ship, which is a very costly and time-consuming endeavor. Unloading fuel from the ship could mean possibly capsizing it, and Egypt does not have a floating crane tall enough to unload cargo from the ship's top. Meanwhile, excavators have attempted to remove some of the soil and sand around where the ship is stuck, which has proven to be fairly fruitless. The soil around the ship is very rocky, which is breaking the equipment used to move it. Officials are now saying that even a best-case scenario would take multiple days to complete, and the way things are looking right now, it is more likely that the effort to dislodge this ship will take weeks.
Sarah Runchey
https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/25/middleeast/suez-canal-ship-blockage-intl-hnk/index.html
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