THE AFRICA BAZAAR STAFF
March 24, 2021
A New York City’s iconic Empire State building-sized cargo ship stuck in Egypt’s Suez Canal since Tuesday is causing major delays to global shipping vessels that are waiting to pass through the man-made canal, one of the world’s busiest and most important international trade waterways routes.
The huge vessel, Ever Given owned by a Taiwan-based shipping company Evergreen Marine Corp, caught the high winds sandstorm and got stuck in the Suez’s narrow canal while trying to maneuver its way through from the Red Sea entry way. More than 100 vessels are currently backlog on both sides of the two way canal.
Efforts to free and right course the vessel are underway, including filtering the sand around the vessel and reducing its loads.
The vessel, currently being pulled by seven tug vessels in efforts to free and right the ship through the 400 meters wide gap, is carrying more than 20,000 plus shipping containers from China to the Netherlands.
On Thursday, the of Oil prices have shot up 2 percent since Tuesday due to the Suez Canal gridlock
The Suez canal handles about 10 percent of the international maritime trade and one of the world’s business waterways that links Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, cutting short route maritime between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean via the Mediterranean and Red Seas, instead of the alternate route around the southern tip of Africa.
Businesses and the trade industry are beginning to worry that the cargo vessel delay might stretch longer than anticipated and create a major supply chain backlog, and scarcity in a global economy still in recovery from a global health pandemic.
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