Rescue efforts to free cargo ship blocking Suez Canal
Workers trying to free the MV Ever Given after it ran aground in the Suez Canal may have to dig down 16m around the giant ship.
They have deployed a specialised suction dredger that is able to shift 2,000 cu m of material every hour, with the Suez Canal Authority saying up to 10 times that amount might need to be removed.
It is thought the salvage team is aiming for Saturday’s high tide which might help re-float the container vessel.
The Ever Given, a Panama-flagged ship operated by Taiwan’s Evergreen and owned by Shoei Kisen KK, a Japanese company, became wedged sideways across the vital waterway on Tuesday.
About one-tenth of global trade passes through the Suez Canal annually. More than 150 ships are currently believed to be queueing to transit it.
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Potential trade choke-points around the world
This infographic, created for The Independent by statistics agency Statista, shows potential trade bottlenecks around the globe.
This graphic shows how much oil passes through selected sea passages
(Statista/The Independent)
Jon Sharman26 March 2021 08:13
Dredgers deployed to shift huge amounts of sand from around ship
Work to free the Ever Given is complex and teams have to avoid complications that might extend the closure of the waterway, a Suez Canal Authority official has said.
A team from Boskalis, a Dutch firm specialising in salvage, started working with the canal authority yesterday.
The rescue efforts have focused on dredging to remove sand and mud from around the port side of the vessel’s bow.
The Suez Canal Authority, which operates the waterway, deployed tugboats and a specialised suction dredger that is able to shift 2,000 cu m of material every hour.
Officials said they would need to remove between 15,000 and 20,000 cu m of sand to reach a depth of 12m to 16m.
That depth was likely to allow the ship to float freely again, they said.
Jon Sharman26 March 2021 07:54
Hopes for high tide to re-float stranded behemoth
Workers trying to re-float the Ever Given are believed to be aiming for Saturday’s high tide as the best chance to do so.
The extra volume of water might provide enough lift to shift her from the sandy banks of the Suez Canal.
Toby Dunipace, head of gas at the shipbrokers Simpson Spence Young, said: “The common message we hear is that there is a high tide expected this coming Saturday 27 March, and this is the best chance to free the vessel from her current grounding.
“Until this time it is premature to suggest further impact to the market, however if this high tide comes and goes and the vessel is still aground, this may cause long-term impact.
“The next cause of action would likely be to remove containers from the vessel, and as we understand it there is no plan in place for that yet.
“The situation is developing day by day and as such things can change very quickly.”
Jon Sharman26 March 2021 07:36
