Suez Canal news — live: Ship makes 3,500nm Cape of Good Hope detour to avoid ‘weeks-long’ Ever Given blockage

I did not at first think that this would be much of a problem.  It is actually worse than that.  Remember the Tide?  The tidal stroke here is around four to five feet.  That means that at high tide the ship snuggles into the sand at either end and then settles in as the tide leaves.

Do this sevaral times and you are going no where.  After two days, it is clear that the tugs cannot pull either end free or it would have happened.

Right now, I would start unloading containers into the desert as quickly as possible using a barge and crane system and get the weight of the center.

As for all those other ships i would start the trip around Africa.  You can always turn around.  Contracts usually have a provision that allows for all this.  We have had other events here.

Sooner than later, the Egyptian government has to consider declaring it salvage and to even break it up, preferably after the ship has been off loaded.  

either way this promises to take weeks and not days at all.

.

Suez Canal news — live: Ship makes 3,500nm Cape of Good Hope detour to avoid ‘weeks-long’ Ever Given blockage

Ever Given container ship aground in the Suez Canal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asvACsmzxn8

Some goods bound for Britain may be delayed by the grounding of a massive container ship in the Suez Canal, according to the government.

The MV Ever Given, a Panama-flagged vessel operated by Taiwanese company Evergreen and owned by Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd, of Japan, became wedged sideways across the canal on Tuesday following strong winds.

The governmnent’s warning came amid fears it might take “weeks” to re-float the massive container ship.

Peter Berdowski, the chief executive of Boskalis, a salvage firm involved in the rescue operation, told the Dutch current affairs programme Nieuwsuur on Wednesday evening that the vessel could not be simply pulled free because of its weight.

“The more secure the ship is, the longer an operation will take. It can take days to weeks. Bringing in all the equipment we need, that’s not around the corner,” he said.

Ever Given is a 200,000-tonne, 400m behemoth capable of carrying 20,000 containers.

Some 150 ships are now queueing both behind and ahead of it to pass through the vital canal, which carries about one-tenth of the world’s trade.