Traffic jams are inevitable. What happens when there is a jam in the Canal?

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Getting stuck in a traffic jam is among the most annoying things we have to face in our daily lives. If you stay in a metro city like Mumbai, Bengaluru or Delhi, then facing traffic congestion is like a daily ritual. Over the past four years, Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru have consistently featured on TomTom’s top-10 most congested cities in the world for traffic.

But have you ever heard about a traffic jam in the canal? The world is right now facing the worst shipping traffic jam ever witnessed. That is because a gigantic 200,000 tonne, 400m long Ever Given a Panama-registered container ship got stuck in the Suez Canal due to a mishap caused by bad weather. The ship was on its way to Rotterdam in the Netherlands from China. Now you must be wondering that when 71% of the earth is covered by water so why can’t other ships re-route just the way we do on the roads. So first let’s understand the importance Suez Canal in global trade.

Suez Canal: A 6,000 km shortcut

The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt and was officially opened on 17 November 1869. The canal offers watercraft a more direct route between Asia and Europe. The Suez Canal drastically shortens travel between Asia and Europe. The Singapore-Rotterdam route, for example, is 6,000 kilometres (3,700 miles) and up to two weeks shorter via the canal than going around Africa.

Cost of the blockage

Nearly 19,000 ships, or an average of 51.5 ships per day, with a net tonnage of 1.17 billion tonnes passed through the canal during 2020, to according to the Suez Canal Authority (SCA). About 12% of the world trade volume passes through the man-made canal. It has been a boon for Egypt’s struggling economy in recent years, with the country earning $5.61 billion in revenues from the canal in 2020.

Lloyd’s List said data indicated that 213 vessels were now stalled at either end of the canal, which drastically shortens travel between Asia and Europe. The blockage was holding up an estimated $9.6 billion worth of cargo each day between Asia and Europe, it said. “Rough calculations suggest westbound traffic is worth around $5.1 billion daily while eastbound traffic is worth $4.5 billion,” said Lloyd’s List a shipping data and news company.

Rerouting

To dislodge the ship which is longer than four football fields, with a gross tonnage of 219,000 and deadweight of 199,000 is not an easy task. This has forced global shipping giant Maersk and Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd to look into re-routing around the southern tip of Africa.

“With the Suez Canal set to remain blocked for at least another day or two, shipping companies are being forced to confront the spectre of taking the far longer route around the Cape of Good Hope to get to Europe or the east coast of North America,” said Lloyd’s List. A difficult to make as sailing around the Cape of Good Hope adds over 6,000 km, a couple of lakh dollars to the fuel bill and 12 days to the journey.

Dislodging efforts

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) is now trying to refloat the Ever Given using rescue and tug units, the report said. Diggers are also trying to free the ship from the canal’s bank, where it is lodged.

The canal authority has said between 15,000 and 20,000 cubic meters of sand would have to be removed in order to reach a depth of 12-16 meters and refloat the ship. If those efforts fail, salvage teams will look to unload some of the Ever Given’s cargo and take advantage of a spring high tide next week to refloat the huge vessel.

(With inputs from AFP)