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Suez Canal: a "human error" at the origin of the grounding?

2021-03-27T21:43:23.983Z


The blockage causes significant delays in oil deliveries. Responsibilities could be difficult to establish.


A "

human error

" could be at the origin of the grounding of the container ship, affirmed Saturday the head of the Authority of the Egyptian Suez Canal, at a time when the efforts are multiplied to refloat the ship blocking this seaway. among the busiest in the world.

The Ever Given, a container ship weighing more than 220,000 tonnes and 400 meters long, has been stuck since Tuesday in the south of the canal, a few kilometers from the city of Suez, and is blocking this strategic route which sees about 10 % of international maritime trade, according to experts.

Read also: Cargo stranded in the Suez Canal: will the blockage lead to shortages or delays in supply?

More than 300 boats are currently stuck at both ends of the canal connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea,

” said Ossama Rabie, head of the Egyptian Suez Canal Authority (SCA).

While high winds combined with a sandstorm were first blamed for the incident, he said weather conditions were not the only reason for the grounding.

“Other errors, human or technical, could also come into play,”

he added during a press conference in Suez.

Colossal losses

The lockdown causes significant delays in deliveries of oil and other products, with a knock-on effect on oil prices, which rose on Friday.

Ossama Rabie estimated that Egypt lost between 12 and 14 million dollars for each day the canal was closed, while the specialist magazine Lloyd's list estimates that the container ship blocks the equivalent of around 9.6 billion each day. of dollars (8.1 billion euros) of goods.

Responsibilities could be difficult to establish.

The fact that

"the ownership and operation (of the boat) are separated between several legal competences and national borders"

makes it difficult to appoint officials, noted Friday Laleh Khalili, professor at Queen Mary University in London, in the columns of the

Washington Post

.

Read also: Suez Canal: when globalization runs aground in the middle of the desert!

Efforts have been increasing since Wednesday to put the juggernaut back afloat.

Peter Berdowski, the director of Royal Boskalis - the parent company of the Dutch company Smit Salvage commissioned by the operator of the ship for the refloating of Ever Given - spoke of a possible bailout "early next week".

If this is not enough, "

it will be necessary to remove the containers to lighten the ship,

" warned Mr. Berdowski, interviewed on Dutch public television.

An option which would result in "

a very long delay

" for the resumption of traffic, according to Nick Sloane, specialist in the refloating of ships.

"The fastest would be to use the dredges and clear the sand," he said.

"It is not a quick operation (...) It will take weeks, not days

", he adds.

"High tide"

The Ever Given "

is not only stranded on the surface sand, it also got stuck in the bank,"

Plamen Natzkoff, expert at VesselsValue, told AFP.

A significant high tide forecast "

Sunday evening

" could "

be of great help,

" he said.

"If they fail to unlock it during this high tide, the next one will not take place for two weeks."

In the meantime, shipping giant Maersk and Germany's Hapag-Lloyd said on Thursday that they were considering rerouting their ships and passing through the Cape of Good Hope, a 9,000-kilometer detour and at least seven additional days. around the African continent.


Source: lefigaro

All business articles on 2021-03-27

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