INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

WELCOME TO INDUSTRY INSIGHTS, Marine Log’s quick snapshot of current trends in the global marine marketplace. At the end of March, the world became captivated by one ship, Ever Given. Evergreen’s 20,388 TEU ship, one of the world’s largest containerships, got stuck in the Suez Canal, where it blocked traffic in both directions for six days.

Below is a day-by-day timeline of the Suez Canal blockage crisis:

The Ever Given gets stuck in the Suez Canal. Maritime companies, including Svitzer, respond to the scene that morning. Svitzer contributed to the multilateral effort to free the vessel with two tugs and four full crews operating in shifts, spanning some 20 people. Svitzer’s two vessels added to the total 13 tugs assisting in the salvage operation, alongside two dredgers.

All traffic is suspended in the canal by the Egyptian government. Meantime, 48 vessels were waiting north of the blockage, 38 ships were waiting in the Great Bitter Lake midway of the canal, and 70 vessels were waiting south of the blockage at Port Suez Anchorage. A team from Dutch salvage company Smit, which operates under its parent company Boskalis, was on its way to the scene.

More tugs show up on the scene as excavators continue to dig into the canal’s eastern wall to help free the ship.

Dozens of ships are backed up as they wait on the canal to clear, causing expensive delays. Svitzer continued to provide support by pushing the vessel and assisting with refloating trials.

A flotilla made a series of push and pull maneuvers in an attempt to free the vessel.

Ever Given is finally freed and set adrift after more than 30,000 cubic meters of sand is removed. At that time, 193 vessels were waiting at Port Said for the southbound convoy and 201 were at Suez waiting to go north. Another 43 ships were waiting at Great Bitter Lakes.