What would happen if the Suez Canal was closed for six days?
Do you remember Ever Given, right? A giant container ship has been stuck in the Suez Canal for six days. Who can forget? Millions around the world witnessed the disaster as various attempts were made to free the ship and save one of the world's most important shipping routes.
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- On March 23, 2021, the Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container ships, became lodged in the Suez Canal due to strong winds and reduced visibility, halting global trade.
- A complex rescue operation involving tugboats and excavators took nearly a week and was aided by a spring tide before the ship was fully refloated and moved to the Great Bitter Lake.
- The Suez Canal Authority detained the Ever Given and demanded up to $900 million in compensation, citing salvage costs and reputational damage, resulting in a legal dispute until a settlement was reached.
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- The blockage disrupted over 200 ships and caused delays in critical supplies like semiconductors, triggering major ripple effects across global supply chains for months.
- The incident prompted some shipping companies to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope and reignited interest in Arctic routes as alternative shipping lanes.
- The delay endangered around 130,000 live sheep aboard vessels en route to Romania, sparking concerns from animal welfare organizations and leading to temporary export suspensions.
- The Ever Given’s grounding captivated global attention, inspired online animations, and even fueled fake news stories such as the Guardian's April Fool's joke about a second canal.
1. The ship closed the Suez Canal
With a total length of 399.94 meters, the Ever Given is one of the longest vessels in service. On March 23, 2021, while passing through the Suez Canal en route to Rotterdam from Tanjung Pelebas, the ship Ever Given got stuck near the village of Manshaet Rugola and closed the canal. According to a statement by the Suez Canal Authority, the ship ran aground diagonally after losing the ability to guide amid high winds and dust storms.
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2. Rescue and refloat
Eight tugboats worked to refloat the ship in collaboration with excavators to remove sand from the side of the canal where the bow of the ship was fixed. After a night break, rescue work resumed on the morning of 25 March.
Egyptian meteorologists said at a press conference on March 27 that weather conditions were "not the main cause" of the ship's stranding, adding: "There may have been technical or human errors... All these factors will show up in the investigation."
With the help of high spring tide, the ship was partially freed from sediment and refloated in the early morning of March 29, 2021, from the bow of the ship that was still stranded. The ship was finally released in the afternoon and towed to the Great Bitter Lake.
3. Confiscation of the ship
On April 13, the Suez Canal Authority announced that the ship had been seized by court orders until its owners paid $900 million in damages, including $300 million for salvage and $300 million for "loss of reputation."
The British P&I Club's insurer dismissed the Suez Canal Authority's claim as unjustified and excessive, while the Suez Canal Authority blamed the shipowner's unwillingness to "pay anything".
On May 10, the Securities and Commodities Authority reduced its claims for compensation to $600 million.
On 7 July 2021, the Egyptian authorities released the vessel after reaching an unspecified settlement. The Ever Given finally arrived in Rotterdam and Felixesto with its cargo, after which it was taken out of service for inspection and maintenance, sailed through the canal again on August 20 en route to Qingdao for repairs, and returned to normal service in mid-November 2021.
4. The collapse of the semiconductor market almost
This event led to the delay of more than two hundred ships, affecting industries suffering from shortages, such as semiconductors, thus affecting markets already at risk of collapse. It should be noted that even the short-term disruption in the Suez Canal will have a domino effect for several months along the supply chain, an effect that has already been seen in the weeks following the incident. In England and across Europe, supply chain disruptions due to the Canal incident, coupled with an already growing interest in gardening due to coronavirus lockdowns, have led to a shortage of garden dwarves.
5. Alternative methods
Suez is the most important sea route between Asia and Europe, and the default alternative route to roam around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope, a journey that can add up to two weeks to the voyage time, although this alternative has already been taken by some ships as of March 26. Russia used the incident to promote Arctic shipping routes as a shorter alternative to transporting goods around Africa.
6. The fate of sheep
Concerns have been raised about the transport of livestock along the road, with 130,000 sheep being transported to Romania alone; Animals International stated that "every hour counts for sheep and the mortality rate will increase... Even if the law was respected and the ships were carrying 25% more food... It will be over now." The loading of cattle ships for export was temporarily suspended by the Romanian and Spanish authorities until the canal was opened.
It was this event that attracted the attention of all over the world, on the day the Ever Given ship was unbanned, Google celebrated the event by adding a hidden feature where searching for the "Suez Canal" or "Ever Given" displays an animation of boats moving along the sidebar.
The Guardian's April Fool's story, which claims there are plans to build a second channel in Egypt, also gained considerable attention in the Turkish media, before it was labelled as a noon lie by the Guardian.
