Ever Given, the giant container ship that had been stuck in the Suez Canal for the past 6 days was partially refloated early Monday. This appears to be the first step towards dislodging it from the Suez Canal. The blockage of the Canal brought a sudden halt to global trade.
The maritime services company Inchcape tweeted earlier about Ever Given refloating and the route is secured.
The ship called Ever Given got diagonally stuck last Tuesday after entering the Suez Canal from the Red Sea. It ran aground and was unable to maneuver a shift in the direction.
The massive vessel completely blocked the canal which is the main route for more than 12% of the seaborne trade of the world. It caused a huge jam resulting in hundreds of ships being stranded waiting for their turn to enter the Suez Canal.
Even though Ever Given is on its way now, the canal is still not open for the traffic. The Suez Canal Authority has claimed that the maritime traffic will commence once the vessel has been fully floated and is off to the lake area; which is considered a wider section of the canal. The cargo ship will undergo a technical inspection over there.
Ever Given is one of the largest container ships in the world. It is about a quarter-mile long and weighs 220,000 tons. It has a capacity of almost 20,000 containers at a time.
This blockage of the Suez Canal had drastically affected the global supply chain industry which has already been struggling to sustain due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to Lloyd’s List, each day of blockage accounted for almost $9 billion in losses that translates roughly to about $400 million lost per hour.
The Director of Mandarin Shipping, Tim Huxley has warned that the ports should prepare themselves for the worst after the canal is opened for traffic. As the traffic will make it crowded and when the ships and tankers will arrive at their destination, it will clog the system, taking more time to clear. Normally, about 50 ships cross the canal a day, but at the moment almost 300 ships are backed up waiting for their turn, on both ends.
Huxley has further claimed that the whole supply chain depending upon maritime trade will take its time to get back to normal and this will impact the businesses, manufacturers and retailers across the world.
