The Suez Canal, a vital artery for the delivery of goods – including agricultural produce – throughout the world, may soon be flowing with traffic again after a stuck vessel blocking the passage has been dislodged.
The Ever Given, a Panamanian container ship, became wedged in the canal on Tuesday. It appears that unusually high winds and an accompanying dust storm which obscured visibility were the causes of the accident. Satellite imagery clearly showed the passage to be entirely blocked by the massive vessel, with its bow wedged along the eastern shore and its stern resting on the western shore. This is the first time in the canal’s 150-year history that a single ship has managed to block the canal entirely.
Tugboats working around the clock were finally able to dislodge the ship on Wednesday, and authorities expect that the canal can be reponed again for traffic within a day or so.
The container ship Ever Given bis seen blocking the Suez Canal in a 3/23/2021 satellite image. Planet Labs Inc. via AP