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A single ship is stuck - and that has global effects.
The 400-meter-long container ship "Ever Given" has been blocking the Suez Canal for five days.
Every day, more freighters are stowed on both sides of one of the most important waterways for international shipping.
This also has an impact in Europe.
Lars Jensen, container shipping expert:
“A port has a maximum capacity. Ships keep arriving and that works well. But if there is a cork in the Suez Canal, then the northern European ports will no longer be called in a week because the ships are stuck down there. "
The consequences are already: the price of oil rose, industrial companies can no longer produce because parts from overseas are missing.
End consumers in Europe will have to wait longer for goods from the Far East.
It is estimated that the accident costs six to ten billion dollars - every week.
But what happens when the Suez Canal is free again?
Lars Jensen, container shipping expert:
“Then the cork comes out, almost like a ketchup bottle. All ships come out at once and arrive at the northern European ports with the regular ships at the same time. The longer it takes now, the higher the risk that we will have a massive traffic jam problem in the European ports, let's say in a week or two. "
The traffic jam in front of the Suez Canal is also visible from space.
Satellite images from the European Space Agency Esa show two snapshots: on the left the situation before the accident, on the right on day four of the accident.
On Friday, more than 200 ships were waiting in the Red and the Mediterranean.
How it came to the accident is not yet certain.
But one thing is clear: navigating a ship of this size through the Suez Canal is a great challenge.
“When sandstorms come up, you lose sight, then you have to rely on the radar and [the systems on board]. But you still have to keep a feel for how the ship is behaving. If you get too close to the bank, you have to expect bank suction that pulls the stern of the ship towards the bank and pushes the bow into the middle of the canal. That could have happened here: that the ship came too close to one bank, the stern was pinched, and then the ship got wedged. "
All efforts to free the stuck on-ocean giant have so far been unsuccessful.
The Japanese owner company hopes that the Ever Given can be moved over the weekend.
The Dutch salvage company, however, spoke of being able to get the ship afloat again at the beginning of the week.
