What is happening in the suez canal? Suez Canal Is Blocked by Container Ship Causing Huge Traffic Jam

Suez Canal Is Blocked by Container Ship Causing Huge Traffic Jam

Authorities hope to dislodge the ship within hours as a backlog of vessels builds up on one of the world’s busiest waterways

Evergreen’s Ever Given container ship stuck sideways in the Suez Canal, a vital trade route for oil and manufactured goods between Asia and Europe.

Egyptian authorities worked to dislodge a giant container ship that remained stuck in the Suez Canal, blocking all traffic on one of the world’s busiest shipping arteries.

Authorities hope to dislodge the ship within hours, according to an Egyptian official, as a flotilla of ships waited to resume voyages in both directions. Even if the ship is dislodged quickly, many idled vessels could still be delayed for days, threatening a new pressure point in a global supply chain already under intense strain.

The Ever Given, a 400-meter (1,312 foot) container ship, Tuesday became stuck in the canal sideways, with its bow wedged in one bank and its stern nearly touching the other, according to ship operators and images posted on social media. The ship, operated by Taiwan-based Evergreen Group, is one of the world’s biggest ocean vessels. It can move more than 20,000 containers and is taller than the Empire State Building if turned upright.

Seven tug boats were dispatched, along with a dredger to dig out and refloat the vessel.

Ship trackers and brokers said there were more than 100 ships waiting to transit the canal, which connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean. The traffic jam comes at a particularly bad time for global supply lines.