Container Ship Stuck in/Blocking Suez Canal, Mar 2021

[dixiegirl1035]

Suez canal blocked by huge container ship after 'gust of wind'

One of the largest container ships in the world has run aground in the Suez canal after being blown off course by a “gust of wind”, causing a huge jam of vessels at either end of the vital international trade artery.....

The shipping monitoring site Vesselfinder.com showed the stricken ship surrounded by smaller tugs trying to free it from the banks.

The site also shows the traffic jam of other vessels at either end of the canal. The trade monitor TankerTrackers.com tweeted that there were “a lot of fully laden” tankers stuck at either end of the canal carrying Saudi, Russian, Omani and US oil.

And as always, twitter has some great memes to highlight

https://twitter.com/search?q=#EVERGreen&src=typed_query

and

https://twitter.com/hashtag/EVERGIVEN?src=hashtag_click

 

[dixiegirl1035]

And this morning, it is still stuck. I recall when I went through the canal, there was a US nuclear submarine passing through also changing "ocean status". It had it's own little pod of boats (I forget what those military boats are called) escorting it.

Suez Canal blocked: Ever Given still wedged in canal, ships reroute

“Every day the canal is closed ... container ships and tankers are not delivering food, fuel and manufactured goods to Europe and goods are not being exported from Europe to the far East," said Mercogliano, an associate professor of history at North Carolina’s Campbell University.

Seven vessels stuck in traffic Wednesday were carrying some 5 million barrels of crude oil, according to data firm Refinitiv. Oil prices climbed by 4%, Business Insider reported.

Some experts also worry that these stuck ships may be vulnerable after a series of attacks against shipping in the Mideast due to growing tensions between the United States and Iran. "

 

[LadyL]

I think it will be stuck for awhile. That's a lot of sand to move.

 

[Yesiamapirate]

I was just wondering if there was a thread here about this stuck ship and Lo and Behold, I found it. Thanks!!

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Has anyone ever read something, and their mind 100% read it incorrectly? Totally wrong

hahahaha! I was watching David Muir's news show last night and they did a world map explaining how cargo ships move goods through the canal.... and I was thinking "Dang it!" I was thinking PANAMA canal in my mind all this time, perhaps because I had been through that one.

Every day I was reading about it previously my mind *read* Panama Canal... ... and I don't even have COVID fog as an excuse. Hate getting old!

Anywhoo, German media outlet today (it's daylight there now) has updated information, video, and a picture gallery. That one teeny excavator etc.

Suez Canal: Blocked ship could be refloated in hours | DW | 27.03.2021

A giant container ship that has been blocking Egypt's Suez Canal for days could be refloated on Saturday, the vessel's Japanese owner has said. "We apologize for blocking the traffic and causing tremendous trouble and worry to many people, including the involved parties," he added.

Dozens of ships delayed
The blockage has caused a huge traffic jam of more than 200 ships along the 193-kilometer (120-mile) canal, and caused major delays in the delivery of oil and other products.

Oh, and an even better article by the Magazine Popular Mechanics on how it got stuck etc. Suez Canal Blocked: Why Is Ever Given Ship Stuck in Suez Canal?
How That Massive Ship Got Stuck in the Suez Canal—and Why Nobody Can Get It Out

"Hey, YOU try dislodging something that weighs 200,000 metric tons."

"The Egyptian pharaoh Senausert III, who reigned from 1887 to 1849 B.C., is credited with first digging the canal." <<<----Wow!

NBC video at How Suez Canal Blockage Affects Bay Area Residents

CBS video at Cargo ship still stuck across Suez Canal, but Egyptian official says it will be freed over weekend had interesting information noting that the companies sister ship has started around Africa vs. waiting. Hmmmm. The owners made decision that would be faster and aren't gambling that the Evergiven will be freed up on Saturday??

And of course, for your entertainment, memes and hilarious funnies that will make you laugh and giggle at

https://twitter.com/search?q=#evergiven&src=typed_query
and
https://twitter.com/search?q=#Evergreen&src=typeahead_click

And just looking at the ships all over the world... and at the blockage at Free AIS Ship Tracking of Marine Traffic - VesselFinder

 

[Laughing]

image from reddit.com

I do indeed feel sorry for the captain/pilot since that career is over.

And, this guy is in international super-star! Maybe kids will choose to become heavy equipment operators since absolutely no one else can fix this problem:


image from box24news.com

 

[Inthedetails]

Has anyone ever read something, and their mind 100% read it incorrectly? Totally wrong

hahahaha! I was watching David Muir's news show last night and they did a world map explaining how cargo ships move goods through the canal.... and I was thinking "Dang it!" I was thinking PANAMA canal in my mind all this time, perhaps because I had been through that one.

Yes, I have done things like that! Always feels like a scene from a sitcom when I realize I had been thinking one thing while in reality it was another thing. LOL.

jmo

 

[Betty P]

I'm surprised the companies who use and operate the canal have zero equipment to handle these kinds of situations. It also appears the canal hasn't been dredged in a long time. Poor maintenance and management. They never should have allowed those super huge container ships access to the canal if they had no way of ensuring enough clearance to navigate it and the necessary equipment to deal with accidents.

Greed makes businesses short-sighted.

 

[Inthedetails]

I'm surprised the companies who use and operate the canal have zero equipment to handle these kinds of situations. It also appears the canal hasn't been dredged in a long time. Poor maintenance and management. They never should have allowed those super huge container ships access to the canal if they had no way of ensuring enough clearance to navigate it and the necessary equipment to deal with accidents.

Greed makes businesses short-sighted.

I keep looking at that huge, huge ship and thinking, "How much stuff do we need?!"

Crazy, all around. Really eye-opening, though, to get a glimpse at international trade at this shipping level.

jmo

 

[Betty P]

I keep looking at that huge, huge ship and thinking, "How much stuff do we need?!"

Crazy, all around. Really eye-opening, though, to get a glimpse at international trade at this shipping level.

jmo

I used to work in the transportation biz years ago. The ships weren't this big back then, but its not surprising that the shipping companies have pushed the boundaries as far as possible WRT getting maximum tonnage on each ship.

Accidents always happen in shipping freight, especially weather-related ones, and any smart business knows you need to have the proper equipment ready. I suppose they just assume today that insurance will cover the accident and cost less than spending money on equipment and maintenance. Dumb.

Really shocked that there's nothing - no heavy duty equipment, no portable cranes, barges for dredging, etc. The overhead photos of all that sand underwater in the canal, SMH. They were caught with their pants down, so to speak.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

I used to work in the transportation biz years ago. The ships weren't this big back then, but its not surprising that the shipping companies have pushed the boundaries as far as possible WRT getting maximum tonnage on each ship.

Accidents always happen in shipping freight, especially weather-related ones, and any smart business knows you need to have the proper equipment ready. I suppose they just assume today that insurance will cover the accident and cost less than spending money on equipment and maintenance. Dumb.

Really shocked that there's nothing - no heavy duty equipment, no portable cranes, barges for dredging, etc. The overhead photos of all that sand underwater in the canal, SMH. They were caught with their pants down, so to speak.

I went through the Panama Canal (yes, I'm not fogged on this one!) and they were just building the secondary canal beside the existing one to take on larger stuff.

That's all for this post as I'm ignorant to speak to .... obviously.

 

[Yesiamapirate]

Here is a link to a website/forum that I followed when the El Faro was lost in a hurricane and found at the bottom of the sea. It has several good articles as well as a forum with many retired and current merchant marines contributing.

I hope it is ok to post this link....It is a public forum unless you want to actually post, then you have to sign up.

gCaptain – Maritime and Offshore News

 

[Warwick1991]

I used to work in the transportation biz years ago. The ships weren't this big back then, but its not surprising that the shipping companies have pushed the boundaries as far as possible WRT getting maximum tonnage on each ship.

Accidents always happen in shipping freight, especially weather-related ones, and any smart business knows you need to have the proper equipment ready. I suppose they just assume today that insurance will cover the accident and cost less than spending money on equipment and maintenance. Dumb.

Really shocked that there's nothing - no heavy duty equipment, no portable cranes, barges for dredging, etc. The overhead photos of all that sand underwater in the canal, SMH. They were caught with their pants down, so to speak.

Edited

All that sand means limited dredging for years, or at least no major dredging.... Since the canal is an Egyptian government asset, we can assume they haven’t budgeted for major dredging operations and probably lack the amount of equipment we expect in the US or other maritime nations. Since it is an important source of revenue for Egypt, it is surprising that the regular dredging program has left such a large amount of sand in place. The sand limits the use of a good portion of the canal. According to the Suez Canal’s website, they do have dredging equipment and dredge regularly: SCA - Home.
I see that they are planning another passage; that is certainly needed.

Just speculating, but perhaps they haven’t dredged as much as they should have because they didn’t want to limit canal traffic and impact the revenue stream. Then again, there is a lot of sand to contend with, deposited by winds. Dredging can temporarily disrupt marine traffic. In the US, there is usually a notice to mariners about dredging so that the need to detour or delay is known in advance.

I’d add that there’s more to this than dredging or lack of dredging. The canal is mapped well, and draft limitations are a known quantity. So human error or sabotage is part of the picture.

The number of ships marooned in the canal is likely to cause a significant economic disaster. This will affect entire the world. The impact of lost/delayed cargo, insurance costs and most of all, the detour around the Cape of Good Hope will impact global trade in a way most people do not realize. The global economy is already fragile from COVID-19, and depending on the length of time the canal is out of service, major impacts are possible. The detour requires substantial time and additional fuel, and presents risks from pirates still operating near the Horn of Africa.

 

[Warwick1991]

There are vessels with livestock marooned in the canal, and feeding the animals will become a concern very soon.

Suez Canal: Efforts to refloat Ever Given container ship continue

Cargo on the Ever Given may have to be removed, which is a substantial challenge with floating cranes. Some are optimistic about refloating the ship today, but others say the effort will take at least a week or more.

 

[Betty P]

Just speculating, but perhaps they haven’t dredged as much as they should have because they didn’t want to limit canal traffic and impact the revenue stream.

This seems most likely, JMO. The Suez canal probably generates a very large amount of revenue for the owners, so there's really not much of an excuse to defer maintenance. Perhaps they're under major pressure from the shipping companies, banks and multi-national corporations that rely on keeping it open 24/7-365.

Here's an article from your link above stating they're finally going to get a salvage company with a crane to go there and begin unloading the ship in order to move it. Wow. They should have that kind of company and equipment on site permanently

 

[Betty P]

Thanks, @Warwick1991 for the link to this forum. It looks pretty good. I recall reading some of these kind of fora during the search efforts for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight.

Smit To Start Suez Box Removal – gCaptain

There is precedent for a lightering operation. Back in November 2004, another vessel, this time a Suezmax-class oil tanker named Tropic Brilliance, ran aground after mechanical problems in the canal, wedging itself across the conduit in a similar way to the Ever Given. Canal authorities were forced to close the canal. In an almost carbon copy of events over the past three days, tugboats tried to use their immense pulling power to free the tanker, which was carrying 85,000 tons of fuel oil, but those efforts failed.

Ultimately, salvage experts brought another tanker alongside, the El Nabila, and transferred roughly 22,000 tons of cargo. On the third day of the grounding, and lighter after the transfer, tugboats were able to free the Tropic Brilliance and reopen the canal. The grounding triggered what, until then, was one of the longest closures of the waterway in years.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

RSBM So human error or sabotage is part of the picture. The number of ships marooned in the canal is likely to cause a significant economic disaster. This will affect entire the world. The impact of lost/delayed cargo, insurance costs and most of all, the detour around the Cape of Good Hope will impact global trade in a way most people do not realize. The global economy is already fragile from COVID-19, and depending on the length of time the canal is out of service, major impacts are possible. The detour requires substantial time and additional fuel, and presents risks from pirates still operating near the Horn of Africa.

I too have seen conspiracy theories, 3rd world war about to start saying this is sabotage... along those lines. Nonsensical that any world power would do such, and time during a sandstorm to pizzz off the ENTIRE world to take advantage of COIVD stuff. I discount such MOO. I'm not buying in to such theories at all. MOO. Yes, economic affects for sure!

Stranger things have happened as to conspiracy/lone wolf captain for the ship.. at this time.. not buying the interwebs saying it was done purpousfully

 

[Betty P]

I too have seen conspiracy theories, 3rd world war about to start saying this is sabotage... along those lines. Nonsensical that any world power would do such, and time during a sandstorm to pizzz off the ENTIRE world. I discount such MOO. I'm not buying in to such theories at all. MOO. Yes, economic affects for sure!

Stranger things have happened as to conspiracy/lone wolf captain for the ship.. at this time.. not buying the interwebs saying it was done purpousfully

Considering something similar happened several years ago, with a supersized oil tanker, I'm still going with Occam's Razor. The improperly maintained and outdated canal was an accident waiting to happen. It's basically operating with the same level of technology since WWII. JMO

In contrast to the Panama Canal, it's very simple. It has no locks because everything is level between the two bodies of water. It's surrounded by flat desert, so it's fairly straight. It would be easy to build a second parallel canal to handle the super ships and have areas to divert traffic when there is an accident.

 

[Dawookie]

View attachment 290136
image from reddit.com

I do indeed feel sorry for the captain/pilot since that career is over.

And, this guy is in international super-star! Maybe kids will choose to become heavy equipment operators since absolutely no one else can fix this problem:

View attachment 290137
image from box24news.com

Seen so many memes about this in my operating groups on FB. It would be nice to see it spur some kids to become operators, but here in the states, sadly I don't see it happening. Not enough emphasis on the building trades as a career despite the amount of money that can be earned.

 

[Warwick1991]

Thanks, @Warwick1991 for the link to this forum. It looks pretty good. I recall reading some of these kind of fora during the search efforts for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight.

Smit To Start Suez Box Removal – gCaptain

@Yesimapirate provided the link to gCaptain. In addition to @yesimapirate's link, there's also the Marine Link and the Maritime Reporter. Much of the content is not online, but the Marine Link has a site: Maritime News, Maritime Magazine