Suez Canal, the world’s most vital trade artery blocked by a 224,000-ton container, is reportedly holding up an estimate of $9.6bn (£7bn) worth of goods each day.
The canal’s westbound traffic comprises goods worth $5.1 bn a day, while the eastbound traffic ships goods and commodities worth $4.5 bn, BBC News reported citing data from shipping expert Lloyd’s List.
The problem began when MV Ever Given, a Panama-flagged vessel operated by Taiwanese company Evergreen and owned by Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd of Japan, became wedged sideways across the canal on Tuesday following strong winds.
According to experts, it could take “weeks” to re-float the massive container truck which weighs around 200,000 tonnes.
The 120-mile-long canal between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean separates Africa from the Middle East and Asia and is also the shortest route between Asia and Europe.
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Millions of tons of manufactured goods make their way from China and South Asia to Europe via the canal. Opened in 1869, the man-made waterway eased the global trade by offering a route that circumvented the need to go around Africa and has since been a key route for oil tankers going to and from the Middle East.
This handout satellite images courtesy of Cnes 2020 released on 25 March 2021 by Airbus DS shows the Taiwan-owned MV ‘Ever Given’ (Evergreen) container ship, a 400-metre- (1,300-foot-)long and 59-metre wide vessel, lodged sideways and impeding all traffic across the waterway of Egypt’s Suez Canal
(CNES/AFP via Getty Images)
Due to the blockage, some 160 ships and vessels are queueing up either side of the vital canal which provides passage to about one-tenth of the world’s trade.
“For each day of delay my thought is, it will take two days to undo the delays,” Alan Baer, president of logistics provider OL USA was quoted as saying by BBC.
“Right now three days creates six days of ongoing delays. I’m not sure this is a perfect formula, but it will be close.”
“If it doesn’t get cleared quickly it will cause a lot of delay and people will have to start looking at shipping goods via the Cape of Good Hope,” Chris Evans, international supply chain expert at Colliers International, said.
Explaining how the choking of the global trade route will affect the prices of goods, Samir Madani, the co-founder of TankerTrackers told the Financial Times that “prolonged blockage would have severe consequences, from affecting oil prices and shipping rates to forcing container vessels to take the much longer route around Africa.”
The Japanese shipowner offered a written apology, as the turmoil caused by the blockage remained unresolved. “We are determined to keep on working hard to resolve this situation as soon as possible,” Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd. said. “We would like to apologise to all parties affected by this incident, including the ships travelling and planning to travel through Suez Canal.”
Additional reporting from the wires
