Suez Canal – Ever Given

We’ve all read the recent reports on the container ship, Ever Given wedged in the Suez Canal, as a result of high winds (maybe) that knocked it off course and caused the ship to run aground in shifting sands. Recent excerpts from various publications:

Releasing Container Ship From Suez Canal Could Capsize It

While the global shipping industry bleeds $400 million each hour the massive Ever Given container ship stays stuck in the sand of the Suez Canal, an elite team of salvors on the ground in Egypt is facing an entirely different problem: How do you make a top-heavy ship stuck in shifting sands weigh less without capsizing it?

Those sags could lead to the ship splitting in two, spilling the fuel and cargo—which includes COVID-19 supplies like respirators and personal protection equipment made in China en route to Europe—into the canal, making it temporarily impassable. “The risk is that it could also become top heavy and capsize,” Captain John Konrad, founder and CEO of gCaptain shipping industry website, said. “And that would be catastrophic.”

But before anyone can even think of lightening the massive vessel, which is 1,312 feet long and 194 feet wide with 50 feet of the ship below the water, they need to download the schematics of the ship and run them through a series of computer-generated programs to determine what offloading will do to the balance. Then they would have to somehow get a maritime crane to Egypt since the country does not own one tall enough to reach the top of the Ever Given’s 20,000 containers to even begin unloading them.

The information used to determine how to lighten the 200,000 metric-ton ship enough to nudge it out of the sand, which buries the vessel a little more with each passing tide, will largely be based on the ship’s own records—assuming they are correct and were not fudged to pass what the Maritime Anti Corruption Network once called the most corrupt port system in the world.

Those sags could lead to the ship splitting in two, spilling the fuel and cargo—which includes COVID-19 supplies like respirators and personal protection equipment made in China en route to Europe—into the canal, making it temporarily impassable. “The risk is that it could also become top heavy and capsize,” Captain John Konrad, founder and CEO of gCaptain shipping industry website, said. “And that would be catastrophic.”

But before anyone can even think of lightening the massive vessel, which is 1,312 feet long and 194 feet wide with 50 feet of the ship below the water, they need to download the schematics of the ship and run them through a series of computer-generated programs to determine what offloading will do to the balance. Then they would have to somehow get a maritime crane to Egypt since the country does not own one tall enough to reach the top of the Ever Given’s 20,000 containers to even begin unloading them.

The information used to determine how to lighten the 200,000 metric-ton ship enough to nudge it out of the sand, which buries the vessel a little more with each passing tide, will largely be based on the ship’s own records—assuming they are correct and were not fudged to pass what the Maritime Anti Corruption Network once called the most corrupt port system in the world.

The ship sails under a Panama flag, which is a common way to skirt human rights issues of great concern to its all-Indian crew, who are now unable to leave the ship. Is owned by the Japanese company Shoei Kisen Kaisha, which has apologized profusely for the rather expensive inconvenience. They say heavy winds knocked the ship into the sand banks, but data so far shows it was also traveling 13 knots in an 8 knot speed zone when the accident happened, according to Konrad.

Several salvors have also said the most likely cause was a blackout power outage that compromised steering just as the wind gust came up. Coincidentally, this same ship was involved in an accident in Hamburg in 2019, when its owners rammed into a ferry and destroyed it. They had blamed the accident on a loss of steering power and high winds back then, too.

Salvors say the next opportunity to move the ship will be during spring tides on Sunday and Monday. If that doesn’t work, it could take weeks to dig her out of the sand, hopefully while keeping her upright and intact.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/releasing-container-ship-from-suez-canal-could-capsize-it/ar-BB1f0aBC

U.S. Navy offers to help clear cargo ship from Suez Canal

The U.S. Navy has offered to help Egyptian officials to clear the Suez Canal, where a cargo ship has been stuck and blocking all traffic for days, a spokesperson said on Friday.

The cargo ship Ever Given ran aground in the Suez Canal on Tuesday after a gust of wind pushed it sideways. With the ship lodged in the canal, no traffic can pass through. The blockage is costing the global economy about $400 million per hour, according to some estimates.

The Navy is prepared to help Egyptian officials clear the canal and has offered assistance, Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command, said in a statement.

“We have offered and stand ready to assist Egypt, and will look to support any specific request we receive. We continue to monitor and assess the situation, but have nothing to provide on any potential specific support at this time.”
Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/26/us-navy-help-ship-stuck-suez-canal-478182

Are Alternative Routes Feasible or Too Dangerous:

Suez Canal crisis sparks piracy fears off Cape of Good Hope – US Navy on standby

THE SUEZ CANAL has continued to cause havoc, with vessels now rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the huge jam caused by a wedged container ship – but the US Navy say there are fears over the heightened risks of piracy.

Fresh efforts are under way to refloat Ever Given – the huge container ship that has been blocked in Egypt’s Suez Canal since Tuesday. There are currently 14 tugboats trying to take advantage of a high tide – and more are on their way to help dislodge the Panama-flagged vessel operated by Taiwanese company Evergreen. More than 300 ships are stuck on either side of the blockage – and some tankers have now started travelling around South Africa instead, adding weeks to their journeys.
Continued: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/releasing-container-ship-from-suez-canal-could-capsize-it/ar-BB1f0aBC

See Also: making due