The Suez Canal is blocked by a huge, wrecked cargo ship.
The blockade could last for days.
In response, oil prices are rising.
Update from March 24th, 9:52 p.m.:
After a container ship was stranded in the Suez Canal, tug boats managed to move the freighter.
Waiting ships should be allowed to sail again as soon as it is moved to a different position, the shipping and logistics company GAC announced on Wednesday, citing the Egyptian Suez Canal authority.
According to the authorities, the freighter ran aground on Tuesday because the captain had poor visibility due to a sand storm.
According to the Suez Canal Authority, eight tug boats are in use to free the freighter.
However, the wind and the size of the ship make their job difficult, according to the GAC.
According to the ship's radars, it is the freighter "Ever Given".
According to
vesselfinder.com
, it is 400 meters long and almost 59 meters wide.
The ship, built in 2018, is sailing under the Panamanian flag, it came from China and is on its way to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
According to experts, the freighter is one of the largest container ships in the world.
Suez Canal blockade: "The longer the closure lasts, the more drastic the effects will be"
The Association of German Shipowners (VDR) hopes that the blockade will end as soon as possible.
"The longer the block lasts and the longer the uncertainty lasts, the more drastic the effects of this block will be," said association spokesman Christian Denso of the dpa.
The main problem is that nobody knows whether the detour around the Cape of Good Hope is worthwhile.
The Federation of German Industries warned of rising costs for companies that rely on sea transport.
Supply chains stalled, among other things because of the unpunctual ships, said the deputy chief executive Holger Lösch.
The situation in international container shipping is tense anyway, the blockade is now tightening it again.
Huge container ship wrecked in the Suez Canal
First report from March 24th:
One of the most important waterways in the world is closed in both directions.
On Tuesday, a huge container ship ran aground in the Suez Canal and lay across.
According to AFP, the Taiwanese operator Evergreen Marine cites a gust of wind that drove the freighter off course as a possible reason.
The affected ship, the 400 meter long and 59 meter wide “MV Ever Given”, was en route from China to the Netherlands.
Tugs and excavator vehicles have so far not been able to free the freighter from its deadlock.
According to the Egyptian Suez Canal Authority, it could take days before the shipping route is free again.
In the meantime, a traffic jam of over 100 ships is said to have formed that want to pass the canal.
+
The MV Ever Given lies across the Suez Canal
© Planet Labs Inc./picture alliance / dpa / AP
Suez Canal blockade: Oil prices rise
Oil prices reacted to the glitch on Wednesday.
In the morning, the price of a barrel (159 liters) of Brent North Sea oil rose by 84 cents to $ 61.63 compared to the previous day.
The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) branded American crude rose 62 cents to $ 58.38.
It was only on Tuesday that oil prices reached their lowest level since the beginning of February.
The main cause was concerns about the falling demand for crude oil due to possible economic burdens from rising corona infections, especially in Europe.
The Suez Canal is used by 19,000 ships
The Suez Canal shortens the journey from Asia to Europe via the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.
The passage through the approximately 200 kilometer long canal costs the equivalent of 250,000 euros per ship.
According to the Suez Canal Authority, almost 19,000 ships with a total of over a billion tons of freight passed through the canal last year.
The Suez Canal was only expanded a few years ago.
