Giant ship blocks Suez Canal and causes 100-vessel pile-up, after being blown off course
- The Ever Given – which at 400m in length is longer than the Eiffel Tower laid on its side – became wedged sideways across the canal in Egypt early on Tuesday
- Dozens of vessels either in the northbound convoy or arriving to transit the canal northbound had to wait for the grounded vessel to be refloated
A cargo container ship that is among the largest in the world turned sideways and blocked all traffic in Egypt’s Suez Canal, officials said on Wednesday, disrupting a global shipping system already strained by the coronavirus pandemic.
The MV Ever Given, a Panama-flagged container ship that carries trade between Asia and Europe, became grounded on Tuesday in the narrow, man-made waterway dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula.
It was not immediately clear what caused the Ever Given to turn sideways in the canal. GAC, a global shipping and logistics company, described the Ever Given as suffering “a blackout while transiting in a northerly direction,” without elaborating.
Evergreen Marine Corporation, a major Taiwan-based shipping company that operates the ship, said in a statement that the Ever Given had been overcome by strong winds as it entered the Suez Canal from the Red Sea but none of its containers had sunk.
An Egyptian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to brief journalists, similarly blamed a strong wind in the area for the incident. Egyptian forecasters said high winds and a sandstorm plagued the area on Tuesday, with winds gusting as much as 50kph.
“All crew are safe and accounted for,” said Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, which manages the Ever Given. “There have been no reports of injuries or pollution.”
The Ever Given’s bow was touching the canal’s eastern wall, while its stern looked lodged against its western wall, according to satellite data from MarineTraffic.com. Several tug boats surrounded the ship, likely attempting to push it the right way, the data showed.
An image posted to Instagram by a user on another waiting cargo ship appeared to showed the Ever Given wedged across the canal as shown in the satellite data.