(Image source from: aljazeera.com)

The Suez Canal happens to be the major passageway between the Mediterranean sea and the Red sea. Several exports and imports are stalled after a large container ship Ever Given turned sideways in the canal. Trade and shipping industry suffered huge losses with this incident and more than 300 ships are staged near the canal to export and import the shipments. The engineers today partially refloated the container ship. But they are yet to make it clear if the ship can cross the Suez Canal soon. The obstruction is holding 9 billion USD per day after the supply chains are facing stress because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

300 vessels with crude oil to cattle and other imports, exports are taking an alternative routes around the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa. This adds two more weeks of the journey for the container ships. All the deliveries would be delayed by weeks. There are several challenges with Ever Given as the satellite data from MarineTraffic.com showed no change in the movement of the ship. The workers are struggling to dislodge the bow of this massive container ship. Osama Rabei, the head of the Suez Canal Authority told that the workers are working real hard to turn things normal. The mud and the sand around the ship are removed. The authorities clarified that the engine of Ever Given was functional.

By Siva Kumar