The Suez canal just got blocked again as another ship runs aground

A huge carrier vessel got stuck in the Suez Canal, again. The world of commerce held its breath, as traffic became blocked along the trading pass, preparing to relive the nightmare all over again. Thankfully, the ship was freed using tugboats. The incident brought back memories from earlier this year when Ever Given, a huge ship, was stuck at the canal, disrupting traffic and costing almost $400m/hour. The Egyptian authorities confirmed that a bulk carrier was stuck at the Suez canal briefly in one lane. The Suez Canal Authority said in a statement that the Panama-flagged Coral Crystal ran aground in a double-lane stretch of the canal, reported USA Today.

The authorities redirected the traffic to the other lane while working to free this vessel. The ship was said to carry cargo weighing 43,000 tons and was south-bound to the Red Sea. Suez Canal is a 120-mile artificial that was opened in 1869 and is now a crucial international shipping passage for world trade. The canal has two lanes and transits two convoys every day — One north-bound to the Mediterranean and the other south-bound to the Red Sea. Admiral Ossama Rabei, head of the Suez Canal, said the incident was a “very brief grounding,” before adding that it had been freed and was already continuing on its journey. He added that the issue was handled in a "professional manner” with the use of the canal’s tugboats who managed to float the vessel. 

While there were initial rumors that the block might prove an issue to traffic for a while, the canal spokesman confirmed the issue was sorted quickly, ensuring traffic wasn't affected that much. “Traffic (at the canal) was not negatively impacted in any way," said Geoge Safwat, the canal spokesman, adding that the traffic was directed to the other lane. He added that 3.2 million tons of cargo spread across 61 vessels had passed through the Suez Canal on Thursday.

The new incident comes just six months after the massive Panama-flagged Ever Given got stuck sideways at the canal blocking traffic and trade for six days, costing $400m per hour. Close to 10% of the world trade goes through the canal and is a huge source of revenue for Egypt. Ever Given, operated by Evergreen Shipping, is one of the world’s largest container ships, and is almost a quarter-mile long. The ship got stuck in the canal due to high winds and poor visibility on March 23 earlier this year, reported New York Times.

The vessel weighed a massive 200,000 metric tons and was stuck at both ends, making it difficult to free the ship. While it was first estimated that traffic might be stopped for weeks on end, the ship was freed in 6 days, on March 29. The canal authorities had teams working on land and water, removing sand and rocks at either end of the ship. The tugboats involved were helped by a high spring tide. The traffic block caused more than 360 vessels to pile up, waiting to pass through the canal. Shipping analysts estimated that the 6-day block had cost $10 billion in trade every day. While those who had a ton of money lost some, the 6-day period gifted the internet a host of memes and in a pandemic year, you can't really put a price on that kind of joy.