Suez Canal blocked briefly as container ship runs aground (opens in new tab)

(thenationalnews.com)

88 pointslindenstark4y ago18 comments

18 comments

Was this another close call major issue indicating a new pattern, or was this one of tens of minor incidents that typically happened in Suez and didn't get reported on until Ever Given?

Not that the two are necessarily mutually exclusive but it's likely leaning hard towards one of the two.

lindenstarkOP4y ago

Only around ~75 incidents reported this decade [0], so it's fairly uncommon. Definitely getting more attention now because of last time though.

[0] (slightly outdated) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-24/suez-bloc...

kbutler4y ago

75/decade == 1 every 7 weeks

Sounds pretty common, or as the grandparent said, "tens of minor incidents that...didn't get reported on"

1 more reply

KoftaBob4y ago

"They said it took 15 minutes for tug boats swiftly dispatched to the site to refloat the vessel and allow south-bound vessels stuck behind it to resume their journey.

“It was a minor traffic issue that was resolved in less than an hour,” a senior Suez Canal official told The National on condition of anonymity.

Since the 'Ever Given' incident, the canal authority have announced a multi-billion dollar project to widen sections of the canal and install other infrastructure to ensure that no other large ships can run aground in the same manner again."

Glad to see that it was resolved quickly, and that the canal is being upgraded to make it more resilient to things like that.

anshumankmr4y ago

I am looking forward to the memes.

On a more serious note, I hope it is resolved ASAP.

EDIT: Looks like it has been resolved https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/egypt/2021/09/09/breaki...

lindenstarkOP4y ago

that was fast, updated title.

zarq4y ago

Have the worldwide trade delays from the blockage with the Ever Given been resolved?

asdff4y ago

The delays are happening at every interface. The port of LA/LB is the busiest port in north America and has dozens and dozens of container ships anchored off the coast waiting to unload. Even if they unloaded the ships today they couldn't move the containers off the terminal holding facilities since freight rail and freight trucking is at capacity. This is why caltrans has been desperate to widen freeways leading to the port and link the 710 in Pasadena, and to expand the alameda freight rail corridor. Freeway widening doesn't help commute times any but it leads to more trucks per hour leaving the port due to the increased throughput, which is only going to get busier over the next century.

gbear6054y ago

From my understanding, the direct delays are resolved (ships are moving normally through the canal) but there are global delays that could be indirectly caused by the Ever Given or lots of other issues (understaffing at ports, closed ports in China due to COVID, high shipping demand, etc.). It’s hard to say whether the current delays would be a lot better if the Ever Given incident hadn’t occurred, although they presumably would be at least somewhat better.

karaterobot4y ago

The delays caused by that specific blockage may have been resolved, but overall shipping delays continue to rise, as they were even before Ever Given. One big driver for that is ports being closed in China due to workers getting sick with Delta, but also just general lack of manpower related to the quarantine.

beaudin4y ago

I have a mentor who was prominent in the ship holding space and as with technology, requirements as well as desire for cost savings (bigger ships) is taking place while the infrastructure (canal) has had minimal change. It’s the classic bottleneck/theory of constraints principle. Watching to see how the canal adapts/evolves.

gremloni4y ago

Did this happen a lot and are we just hearing about it now or do we have worse ship pilots now?

styluss4y ago

Was blocked

keyboardCowBoy4y ago

There's still more Biden money to go around.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

18 comments

IkmoIkmo4y ago

Was this another close call major issue indicating a new pattern, or was this one of tens of minor incidents that typically happened in Suez and didn't get reported on until Ever Given?

Not that the two are necessarily mutually exclusive but it's likely leaning hard towards one of the two.

lindenstarkOP4y ago

Only around ~75 incidents reported this decade [0], so it's fairly uncommon. Definitely getting more attention now because of last time though.

[0] (slightly outdated) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-24/suez-bloc...

kbutler4y ago

75/decade == 1 every 7 weeks

Sounds pretty common, or as the grandparent said, "tens of minor incidents that...didn't get reported on"

1 more reply

KoftaBob4y ago

"They said it took 15 minutes for tug boats swiftly dispatched to the site to refloat the vessel and allow south-bound vessels stuck behind it to resume their journey.

“It was a minor traffic issue that was resolved in less than an hour,” a senior Suez Canal official told The National on condition of anonymity.

Glad to see that it was resolved quickly, and that the canal is being upgraded to make it more resilient to things like that.

anshumankmr4y ago

I am looking forward to the memes.

On a more serious note, I hope it is resolved ASAP.

EDIT: Looks like it has been resolved https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/egypt/2021/09/09/breaki...

lindenstarkOP4y ago

that was fast, updated title.

zarq4y ago

Have the worldwide trade delays from the blockage with the Ever Given been resolved?

asdff4y ago

gbear6054y ago

karaterobot4y ago

beaudin4y ago

gremloni4y ago

Did this happen a lot and are we just hearing about it now or do we have worse ship pilots now?

styluss4y ago

Was blocked

keyboardCowBoy4y ago

There's still more Biden money to go around.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse