Suez Canal the artery of world trade is blocked

The Ever Given, 200, 000 Tonne ship, built-in 2018, operated by Taiwanese transport company Evergreen Marine, registered in Panama, bound for the port city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands from China was passing northwards through Egypt’s Suez Canal on its way to the Mediterranean when the 400m- long ( 1, 312 ft) giant container ship got wedged across the canal due to strong winds, at about 7:40 local time (05:40GMT) on Tuesday, blocking traffic in of the world’s busiest trade routes. About 12 per cent of global trade passes through Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea and provides the shortest sea link between Asia and Europe. The stranded ships 25-member all-Indian crew remains safe. The stranded Ever Given is holding  up $9.6bn of goods a day, which is costing over $400million an hour.  The westbound traffic is valued $5.1bn  while Eastbound is at $4.5bn. At least 160 ships blocked to the north of the Ever Given, including  41 bulk carriers and 24 crude tankers according to Lloyd’s List tracking data. 

In the meanwhile, Egypt has reopened the canal’ solder channel to divert some traffic until the grounded ship can move again. On an average of

Eight tug boats are working to refloat the ship , and diggers on the ground have been removing sand from where it is wedged into the side of the canal bank.

The Suez canal is an artery of world trade, connecting the Mediterranean with the Red Sea between Asia and the Middle East and Europe and the main alternative is a passage round the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. Even crude oil prices might take a toll  as 10 per cent of all seabourne oil is transported  through the Suez Canal, which is blocked causing shipment delays of 3.5million  barrels  of oil per day.