Capitals-Sana
The repercussions of the disruption of navigation in the Egyptian Suez Canal, which connects the Red and White Bahrain, following the stranding of a giant container transport ship, continues to cast a shadow on the global economic and commercial reality due to the great impact that the disruption of this vital corridor can have, which is the lung of global trade and the artery that connects the east. In the West, amid global economic crises and high oil prices.
According to the latest data, the container ship "Evergiven", which is operated by a Taiwanese company and owned by a Japanese company and flies the Panama flag, which is stranded in the Suez Canal, seizes an estimated $ 9.6 billion of goods per day, equivalent to $ 400 million per hour of trade exchange along the waterway.
According to data from Lloyd's List, a freight magazine, the westbound traffic through the canal is estimated at about $ 5.1 billion per day, and the eastbound traffic is estimated at $ 4.5 billion per day.
Experts say that despite the efforts made to clear the ship, it may take weeks, as the ship is equivalent to four soccer fields and is one of the largest container ships in the world with a weight of 200 thousand tons and is able to transport 20 thousand containers.
Numerous attempts to re-float the delinquent giant container ship all ended in failure, as the parent company, "Evergreen Marine", confirmed that the attempt to float it again failed today, adding that the Dutch rescue team confirmed that two additional tugboats will arrive on the 28th of March to assist in the efforts to resurface them.
Yesterday, two attempts to float the ship failed, while experts are likely to continue the attempts for days.
A source within the canal confirmed that the process is "not easy at all" and may need a period ranging from three to six more days, stressing that unloading part of the cargo is possible, but it is a complex matter and may extend the duration of the operation.
A number of mechanisms belonging to the Suez Canal Authority and others belonging to a Dutch company hired by the ship's operating company have worked to float and tow the ship since last Tuesday, which hinders its cargo and the nature of the stone area in which the operation has succeeded so far.
The company that manages the container tanker stated that the focus is now on dredging to remove sand from around the left and right sides of the bow of the ship, noting that initial investigations showed that the ship ran aground due to strong winds, excluding any mechanical failure or engine failure when it was crossing the Suez Canal.
The company added, "There are suspicions that the ship was hit by sudden strong winds, which caused its hull to deviate, colliding casually to the bottom of the canal and then drifting off its course," adding that "a difficult puzzle because the ship is currently under pressure from abnormal forces .. We do not want it to tilt or split in half." During the rescue operation ”.
In the same context, the German company Hapag Lloyd said that four of its ships were waiting in Port Said at the northern end of the Suez Canal, where the ship ran aground and changed the course of six other ships around the Cape of Good Hope.
Since the ship ran aground, which completely closed the Suez Canal, more than 300 ships have so far stopped near Suez and Port Said because of it .. There are also hundreds of other ships heading to the Suez Canal, and they will be stopped accordingly due to the closure of the canal.
Experts indicated that the problem can only be solved by two things: the first is the unloading of the ship, this needs unloading ships and a time of at least two weeks at a minimum, and the second is drilling in front and behind the ship and deepening the Suez Canal, and this also needs days, as the Suez Canal Authority began drilling two days ago and requested assistance from All countries of the world.
The Suez Canal Authority announced that the navigation traffic witnessed the first day of the crossing of 13 ships from Port Said, while it is currently waiting in the lakes until the end of the floating procedures for the delinquent ship.
The authority indicated that the percentage of completion of the work of removing the sand surrounding the bow of the ship amounted to about 87 percent after removing about a thousand cubic meters of it, indicating that as the ship's floatation work continued, it was necessary to move according to the alternative scenario by waiting in the Great Lakes region until the navigation movement was fully resumed After the ship float.
About 12 percent of the global trade volume passes through the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea and provides the shortest sea route between Asia and Europe, while the alternative route to Cape of Good Hope takes an additional two weeks compared to the time it takes for ships to travel through the Suez Canal.
The ship, on a voyage from China to the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, was passing north through the canal on its way to the Mediterranean Sea when it ran aground.
With the continuing crisis of navigation stopping in the Suez Canal, some have raised questions about the impact of the crisis on oil prices in the coming period, in light of the rise that it witnessed due to fears that navigation in the canal may be halted for weeks.
Oil prices increased today by about two percent, which could put pressure on supplies of crude and refined products.
The reason for the suspension of the canal was disruption, which resulted in the nearly doubling of shipping costs for tankers of petroleum products this week and diverting several ships away from the waterway.
About 19,000 ships, with a net tonnage of 1.17 billion tons, crossed the Suez Canal in 2020, with an average of 51.5 ships per day, according to Suez Canal Authority data.
Uday pigeon
