A huge container ship has been stuck in the Suez Canal for days. It blocked the entire canal and caused other ships to jam. But the situation could change soon.
Port Said – 400 meters long and 59 meters wide: the container ship named MV Ever Given has been blocking the Suez Canal since Wednesday (24.3). A sandstorm had probably thrown the freighter off course. Since then, the ship has been lying across, causing a traffic jam on both sides of the canal. Initially, up to 100 ships were waiting for their passage. According to information from the shipping and logistics company GAC, 70 ships are currently still at anchor in the cities of Suez and Port Said.
An event that upsets world trade. The Suez Canal is one of the most important trade routes. In 2020 almost 19,000 ships passed the waterway. International logistics turbulence can already be felt, according to the Federation of German Industries. Central supply chains are in danger of stalling due to a lack of containers, unpunctual ships and a lack of transport capacity.
Congestion in the Suez Canal: Rescue faster than expected? – The expert answers – “within 48 to 72 hours”
How does it go from here? The Suez Canal is still blocked. Also on Friday (March 26th) tug boats continue to try to get the stranded “MV Ever Given” free. But according to a representative of the Egyptian government, the procedure could be completed faster than expected. Surprising news after many had thought the whole thing could drag on for many days.
Shipping on the canal between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean will be “resumed within 48 to 72 hours at the most,” said the advisor for seaports to Egypt’s head of state Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Mohab Mamisch. Mamisch stated that, as the former head of the Suez Canal Authority, he had already seen several salvages. “I know every inch of the canal.” Previously, there had been talk of several weeks of recovery. A good sign for shipping in the canal.
Traffic jam in the Suez Canal: blocked waterway triggers meme wave – a familiar face is also there
While the tug boats try to remove the mud from under the freighter, the Internet takes the misfortune with humor. Even the gag of a football legend was well received by the community. Meanwhile, a whole wave of memes seems to be rolling in that use the ship for funny skits from their everyday lives.
— Ben Harris-Roxas (@ben_hr) March 24, 2021
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“My To-Do List, My Progress”, for example, was commented by a Twitter user about the ship standing sideways and the workers who are dredging the mud around the bow of the ship and in the Look really small compared to the big freighter. But the ancient Egyptian empire is also used. The ship as the invasion of Xerxes I, the first Egyptian pharaoh and the workers as Spartans and Greeks – the meme is ready. One user was particularly taken with the ship. He made 26 memes about the incident. The to-do list is one of his works. (chd with AFP)
Headline list image: © Xinhua / Imago
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