Suez Canal crisis LIVE – Success as Ever Given ship 'partly refloated' but still stuck sideways costing BILLIONS a day
THE mega-ship longer than the Eiffel Tower blocking the Suez Canal has been partially refloated.
However teams working to free the vessel said it remained stuck for now and it was unclear how long it would take to fully reopen the canal even after the ship eventually gets moving.
Footage posted on social media appeared to show the Ever Given had straightened after its stern had swung towards the canal bank enabling other ships to pass.
The 400m-long Ever Given became wedged in the shipping lane due to extreme weather conditions last Tuesday.
Inchcape, a maritime services firm, is one of several sources reporting that the boat had been freed at 4.30am local time.
News agency Reuters, citing shipping sources, said the cargo vessel was almost fully re-floated and had restarted its engines.
Follow our live blog below for all the latest Suez Canal news and updates…
- Alice Peacock
WHY IS THE SUEZ CANAL SO IMPORTANT?
The Suez Canal is the quickest sea route between Asia and Europe and is one of the world’s most heavily used shipping lanes.
On average 50 vessels per day pass along the canal, although at times the number can be much higher.
The canal is 120 miles long, 672ft wide and 78ft deep meaning it can handle the world’s biggest ships, which take around 11 hours to pass through.
Ships have been grounded in the canal before and in 2017 a Japanese ship became stuck but was re-floated within hours.
- Alice Peacock
SUEZ CRISIS WAS INEVITABLE, RESEARCHER SAYS
A leading researcher at Plymouth University’s maritime cyberthreat research group blames cargo companies over doing it and suggested the crisis was inevitable.
Rory Hopcraft explained: “The ships are not just larger, they’re carrying more goods. So rather than spreading the risks over three or four smaller ships, all your eggs are in one basket – it’s all tied up in one big ship.
“Half the world’s ports can’t even deal with ships this size,” he continued.
“If those terminals that can (accommodate megaships), aren’t able to service them for whatever reason – local power cuts or military action – then these ships can’t be serviced at all,” referring to the weaknesses of the entire supply chain, that leaves ships open to piracy or cyberattacks.
- Alice Peacock
EVER GIVEN PARTIALLY REFLOATED THANKS TO SUPERMOON
High tides brought on by a supermoon are partially to thank for the refloating of the mega-shop blocking the Suez Canal.
Photos showed the Ever Given had straightened after its stern had swung towards the canal bank allowing other boats to pass.
Canal officials said the Ever Given had been turned "80 per cent in the right direction" after the stern was shifted with "pulling manoeuvres" that moved it 335ft from the bank.
Around 10 tugboats were helped by several diggers which vacuumed up sand underneath at high tide brought on by a "supermoon" – a full moon which provides higher tides due to its gravitational pull on the earth.
- Alice Peacock
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST FOR A SHIP TO PASS THROUGH THE SUEZ CANAL?
The Suez Canal is one of the world’s most important routes, and it’s costing $400million per hour in delayed goods, Lloyd’s List reported.
The canal, which runs through Egypt, provides a vital shipping route that connects Europe to Asia.
Lloyd’s List, a London-based shipping-news journal, estimated the value of cargo goods passing through the canal every day at $9.7billion on average, with $5.1billion travelling west and $4.6billion travelling east.
The average number of vessels passing through the canal each day is 93 – which is why hundreds of ships are currently trapped around the stuck Ever Given.
Some 19,000 vessels passed through the canal last year, according to official figures.
- Alice Peacock
EVER GIVEN REFLOATED AFTER SIX-DAY LONG BLOCK
The mega-ship longer than the Eiffel Tower blocking the Suez Canal has been refloated.
Footage posted on social media appeared to show the Ever Given had straightened after its stern had swung towards the canal bank enabling other ships to pass.
The 400m-long Ever Given became wedged in the shipping lane due to extreme weather conditions last Tuesday.
Inchcape, a maritime services firm, is one of several sources reporting that the boat had been freed at 4.30am local time.
News agency Reuters, citing shipping sources, said the cargo vessel was almost fully re-floated and had restarted its engines.
- Alice Peacock
IKEA PRODUCTS ALSO CAUGHT IN SUEZ CANAL QUEUE
An Aladdin’s cave of goods ranging from IKEA furnishings to tens of thousands of livestock is stuck in a maritime traffic jam caused by the Suez Canal blockage.
Sweden’s IKEA said it has 110 containers on the stricken Ever Given and other ships in the pile-up.
“The blockage of the Suez Canal is an additional constraint to an already challenging and volatile situation for global supply chains brought on by the pandemic,” an IKEA spokesperson said.
The Van Rees Group, based in Rotterdam, said 80 containers of tea were trapped at sea on 15 vessels and said there could be “chaos” for the company as supplies dried up.
- Mark Hodge
The Ever Given has this morning been refloated, reports say.
Footage posted on social media appeared to show the monster cargo ship had straightened after its stern had swung towards the canal bank enabling other boats to pass.
Inchcape, a maritime services company, is one of several sources reporting that the boat had been freed at 4.30am local time.
Reuters, citing shipping sources, said the cargo vessel was almost fully re-floated and had restarted its engines.
Canal authorities said the Ever Given had been turned "80 per cent in the right direction" after the stern was shifted with "pulling manouevres" that moved it 335ft from the bank.
- Debbie White
SPRING TIDE TO HELP EVER GIVEN?
One salvage expert has warned of possible structural problems on the Ever Given as it remains wedged in the Suez Canal.
The Ever Given, owned by the Japanese firm Shoei Kisen KK, got wedged in a single-lane stretch of the canal, about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez.
The Panama-flagged Ever Given smashed into the banks of the world-famous waterway last Tuesday, totally sealing off the key global trade route.
Salvagers' best chance may arrive today, Monday, March 29, when a spring tide will raise the canal's water level by up to 18 inches, analysts and shipping agents said.
- Debbie White
FEARS FOR 130,000 ANIMALS ON SHIPS
Apart from goods, some 130,000 head of livestock on 11 ships sent from Romania have also been held up as a result of Ever Given's stranding.
"My greatest fear is that animals run out of food and water and they get stuck on the ships because they cannot be unloaded somewhere else for paperwork reasons," Gerit Weidinger, EU coordinator for NGO Animals International, told The Guardian.
Egypt has sent fodder and three teams of vets to examine livestock stuck at sea – some bound for Jordan.
Sweden's IKEA said it has 110 containers on the stricken Ever Given and other ships in the pile-up.
"The blockage of the Suez Canal is an additional constraint to an already challenging and volatile situation for global supply chains brought on by the pandemic," an IKEA spokesperson said.
- Debbie White
SOIL EXPERTS SHIFT 27K CUBIC METRES OF SAND & MUD
Dredging has so far shifted at least 27,000 cubic metres of sand and mud from around the Ever Given.
A mass of rock was found at the bow of the ship, complicating salvage efforts.
On Sunday there was digging to remove the lining of the canal around the ship's front.
Soil experts are on site to advise on recovery efforts and a further dredger is expected to arrive by Tuesday March 30.
From the dredging done so far it's still unclear whether the ship is stuck on soft sand, compact sand or clay, which will determine how easily it may shift free, said one official involved in the salvage operation.
- Debbie White
EVER GIVEN'S RUDDER NOW MOVING & PROPELLER WORKING
Officials say that some progress has been made in trying to free Ever Given.
"The rudder was not moving and it is now moving.
"The propeller is working now, there was no water underneath the bow, and now there is water under it, and yesterday there was a four-metre deviation in the bow and the stern," Suez Canal chairman Osama Rabie told Egyptian state TV.
- Debbie White
EVER GIVEN CONTAINER SHIP STILL STUCK
The Ever Given container ship remains stuck in the Suez Canal on Sunday night, despite attempts by salvage experts to free her over the weekend.
Although water has started flowing under the mega ship, talk continues over moving its containers to lighten the load, and help boost manoeuvrability.
But, reports BBC News, that could "take days, or even weeks".
- Debbie White
TAKING CONTAINERS OFF EVER GIVEN IS WORST-CASE SCENARIO
Taking containers off the fully loaded – and stuck – Ever Given ship would add even more days to the Suez Canal’s closure.
This is something authorities in Egypt have been desperately trying to avoid.
It also would require a crane and other equipment that have yet to arrive, reports the Associated Press.
- Debbie White
THOUSANDS OF EVER GIVEN'S CONTAINERS COULD BE REMOVED IN RISKY OPERATION
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has ordered preparations for the possible removal of some of the ship's 18,300 containers, Suez Canal Authority chairman Osama Rabie has told Egypt's Extra News.
His order comes as under-pressure rescue workers from the SCA and a team from Dutch firm Smit Salvage work out how much tugging power they can use on the ship without risking damage.
They're also investigating whether some cargo will need to be removed by crane in order to re-float it.
But experts have warned that doing so could be complex and lengthy.
Any operation to lighten the ship's load would not start before Monday.
This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows excavation work in the Suez CanalCredit: AP - Debbie White
BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE
Work to free the trapped Ever Given has been complicated by rock under the ship's bow.
Suez Canal salvage teams intensified excavation and dredging on Sunday around the massive container ship blocking the busy waterway ahead of attempts to refloat it.
Diggers continue working to remove parts of the canal's bank and expand dredging close to the ship's bow to a depth of 18 metres (19.7 yards), the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said.
There was no mention of new attempts to release the ship with tugs, though canal officials and sources had said they were hoping to take advantage of high tides on Sunday and Monday to dislodge the vessel.
A specialist tug registered in the Netherlands has arrived to boost efforts to refloat the ship on Sunday evening, the ship's technical manager Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) said.
- Debbie White
IKEA PRODUCTS ALSO CAUGHT IN SUEZ CANAL QUEUE
An Aladdin's cave of goods ranging from IKEA furnishings to tens of thousands of livestock is stuck in a maritime traffic jam caused by the Suez Canal blockage.
Sweden's IKEA said it has 110 containers on the stricken Ever Given and other ships in the pile-up.
"The blockage of the Suez Canal is an additional constraint to an already challenging and volatile situation for global supply chains brought on by the pandemic," an IKEA spokesperson said.
The Van Rees Group, based in Rotterdam, said 80 containers of tea were trapped at sea on 15 vessels and said there could be "chaos" for the company as supplies dried up.
Ikea's products are also stuck in the marine jamCredit: www.ikea.com - Debbie White
100 SHIPS WITH OIL/REFINED PRODUCTS IN MARINE JAM
More than 360 vessels have been stranded in the Mediterranean to the north and in the Red Sea at the other end – as well as in holding zones – since giant container ship MV Ever Given was wedged diagonally Tuesday across the Suez, a lifeline for world trade.
Industry experts have estimated the total value of goods marooned at sea at anywhere between $3 billion and $9.6 billion.
Some 1.74 million barrels of oil a day is normally shipped through the canal, but 80 per cent of Gulf exports to Europe pass through the Sumed pipeline that crosses Egypt, according to Paola Rodriguez Masiu of Rystad Energy.
According to MarineTraffic, about 100 ships laden with oil or refined products were in holding areas on Sunday.
Crude prices shot up on Wednesday in response to the Suez blockage before dropping the next day. Sanctions-hit Syria, however, on Saturday announced a new round of fuel rationing after the hold-up delayed a shipment of oil products from ally Iran.
- Debbie White
MAN CREATES SUEZ CANAL VIDEO GAME TO CAPTURE 'GARGANTUAN' TASK OF FREEING BOAT
A Twitter user has created a video game to depict the "gargantuan" task of freeing the Ever Given boat from where it is stuck in Egypt's Suez Canal.
The game – which only has three controls – allows users to try to free the boat, with the message "it's super stuck" appearing when attempted.
Eric Wilder, who designed the game in around two hours, told the PA news agency that users play "as a tiny bulldozer, given the gargantuan task of freeing it."
On Wednesday morning, Mr Wilder, a book cover designer from Rochester, New York, said the game had amassed 38,000 views and 10,000 gameplays since he launched it on Friday.
He told PA: "I saw a number of memes going around featuring the boat and bulldozer and thought it was so funny. I knew I could spin it into quick game – I've taken up retro game development as a pandemic hobby. It took me a little over two hours to put together."
- Debbie White
QUESTIONS OVER STRONG WINDS MOVED MEGA SHIP CLAIM
The Ever Given's owners say a gust of wind pushed the ship and its huge cargo of more than 20,000 shipping containers sideways, which as a result has interrupted global trade.
But, the head of the Suez Canal Authority told journalists that strong winds were “not the only cause” for it running aground.
Lt. Gen. Osama Rabei said an investigation was ongoing, but he did not rule out human or technical error.
Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement maintains its “initial investigations rule out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the grounding.”
However, at least one initial report suggested a “blackout” struck the hulking vessel carrying some 20,000 containers at the time of the incident.
- Debbie White
FULL MOON OFFERS KING TIDE TO HELP FREE EVER GIVEN
Workers planned to make two attempts on Sunday to free the Ever Given, coinciding with high tides helped by a full moon tonight, a top pilot with the Suez Canal authority said.
The full moon offers a spring tide, or king tide, where high tides are higher and low tides are lower because of the effects of gravity during a straight-line alignment of the Earth, the moon and the sun.
“Sunday is very critical,” the pilot said. “It will determine the next step, which highly likely involves at least the partial offloading of the vessel.”
- Debbie White
TWO MORE TUGBOATS SPEED TO SUEZ CANAL
Two more tugboats sped on Sunday to Egypt’s Suez Canal to boost efforts to free the skyscraper-sized container ship wedged for days across the crucial waterway.
The Dutch-flagged Alp Guard and the Italian-flagged Carlo Magno, called in to help tugboats already there, reached the Red Sea near the city of Suez early Sunday, satellite data from MarineTraffic.com showed.
The tugboats will nudge the 400-meter-long (quarter-mile-long) Ever Given as dredgers continue to vacuum up sand from underneath the vessel and mud caked to its port side, said Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, which manages the Ever Given.
Above – the latest situation as per MarineTraffic.com
- Debbie White
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST FOR A SHIP TO PASS THROUGH THE SUEZ CANAL?
The Suez Canal is one of the world's most important routes, and it's costing $400million per hour in delayed goods, Lloyd's List reported.
The canal, which runs through Egypt, provides a vital shipping route that connects Europe to Asia.
Lloyd's List, a London-based shipping-news journal, estimated the value of cargo goods passing through the canal every day at $9.7billion on average, with $5.1billion travelling west and $4.6billion travelling east.
The average number of vessels passing through the canal each day is 93 – which is why hundreds of ships are currently trapped around the stuck Ever Given.
Some 19,000 vessels passed through the canal last year, according to official figures.
- Debbie White
SHIP QUEUE – TWO WEEKS TO BE ADDED TO VOYAGES
If the Ever Given Suez Canal blockage drags on, shippers may decide to reroute their cargoes around the Cape of Good Hope, adding about two weeks to journeys and costly extra fuel expenses.
Hundreds of shipments remain in limbo as a result of the situation.
- Debbie White
SHIPPERS MAY BE OFFERED DISCOUNTS
Shippers affected by the ongoing blockage may be offered discounts, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chairman Osama Rabie told Egypt’s Extra News.
Rabie said added that he believed investigations would show the Suez Canal was not responsible for grounding the Ever Given, one of the world’s biggest container ships.
At least 369 boats are waiting to transit the canal, Rabie confirmed today.
These include dozens of container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels.
- Debbie White
SPECIALIST GEAR NEEDED TO HELP MANOEUVRE SHIP
At some stage specialist gear will need to be brought in to the Suez Canal – including cranes – to start removing containers from the Ever Given, BBC News adds.
The mega ship got stuck on Tuesday, resulting in 300 cargo vessels left waiting to get through the passage and deliver goods around the world.
The situation has crippled global supply chains, 12 per cent of which normally passes through this vital canal.
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