Suez Canal: Space photo shows mega-traffic jam – “Slight movement” when the container ship is uncovered

The Suez Canal in Egypt is blocked by the “Ever Given”. The blockage continues. A space shot now shows the mega-traffic jam.

Update from March 27, 12:37 p.m.: Something is happening with the Suez Canal blockade in Egypt (see previous update). There is a “slight movement” with the container ship “Ever Given” caught there. More than ten tugs and three excavators are currently in use, said the shipping and logistics company GAC. The ship of the Taiwanese shipping company Evergreen sails under the Panamanian flag and ran aground in a sandstorm.

Several factors played a role in the maneuvers for the exposure, it was said – especially the wind direction and ebb and flow. It is a “complicated technical operation”.

The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea and thus offers the shortest shipping route between Asia and Europe. Every year around 18,000 ships normally pass through the waterway. Some countries have already started to send the first ships on a detour around the Cape of Good Hope.

Container ship clogs Suez Canal: space image shows mega traffic jam – US Army offers help

Update from March 27, 9:05 a.m.: A ship causes trouble. The massive freighter “Ever Given” has been blocking the Suez Canal in Egypt since Tuesday – now even the US Army is offering its help in the misery. An expert team of Marines could be deployed quickly, said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki in Washington on Friday. Talks with the government in Cairo were still ongoing, she continued.

A US Department of Defense representative who refused to be named said loudly AFPIf Egypt makes a formal request, the team could set off from the US naval base in Bahrain on Saturday. However, the representative restricted: “We can certainly advise, but we cannot escort them all.”

Efforts on site to get the ship free have been in full swing since Wednesday (see first report) – German companies therefore also fear supply bottlenecks. Because of the 400 meter long and over 220,000 tons heavy freighter, more than 200 ships were recently stowed at the site. The European Space Research Institute (ESRIN) tweeted a space shot of the incident:

Container ship clogs Suez Canal: Before the accident, the captain drove a model into the sea – and that is tough

News from March 26, 2021:

Suez – Was that on purpose or just a coincidence? A video shows the waiting course of the wrecked “Ever Given” before it entered the Suez Canal on Tuesday. While the other ships barely move, the huge container ship drives around cheerfully. If you watch the video to the end, the image of a penis comes to light. Vesselfinder, a company that offers shipping-related services, drew attention to this.

The freighter’s management sees nothing wrong with this. A spokesman for Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement told Der Spiegel: “It is not unusual for ships waiting to enter, meandering around beforehand.” If this is really the case, the captain of the “Ever Given” has inadvertently become an artist.

Suez Canal blockade: Penis course causes malice on Twitter

On Twitter, the unusual course of the container ship is already a topic that causes ridicule. “If you are dissatisfied with your employer, send him a secret message in order to then stop a large part of the global oil trade,” wrote the user orthopedist.

Susette Gontard takes the same line. She writes: “Who doesn’t know it: turning a small penis round and then getting stuck in the canal.” The user KDJ Prime only said: “Absolute genius, who is this Columbus.”

Suez Canal blockade: ten tugs cannot free the container ship

The “Ever Given” is still stuck. The Japanese owner hopes that the canal will be navigable again next weekend. A spokesman for the company Shoei Kisen told the dpa that they wanted to try to get the cargo ship afloat on Saturday. If this does not work, it is planned to use two more tugs on Sunday. Ten tugs have been used so far.

Suez Canal Blockade: Shipowners face high costs

The 400-meter-long “Ever Given” has been blocking the Suez Canal, one of the world’s most important waterways, since Tuesday. The container ship sailing under the Panamanian flag ran aground. Shoei Kisen could now face high costs. The operator of the ship, the Taiwanese Evergreenline, claims to have only chartered the ship. Therefore, the owner has to pay for rescue and repair costs as well as other third party claims.

Long traffic jams have formed in front of both junctions, Port Said in the north and Suez in the south. Over 100 ships are waiting to continue their journey. The oil market has recently seen strong price fluctuations, as the Suez Canal is also of great importance for the international oil trade.

Suez Canal blockade: container ship wrecked in the port of Hamburg

The “Ever Given” has already had an accident. The freighter caused a collision with a ferry in the port of Hamburg. The container ship went off course on February 9, 2019 and squeezed the “Finkenwerder” port ferry at the Blankenese jetty. Property damage to the amount of around one million euros was incurred on the ferry and the pier.

Header list image: © AFP PHOTO / Satellite image © 2021 Maxar Technologies