TIMELINE CHAOS ON THE SUEZ CANAL The week the Suez Canal was blocked will have ramifications for months to come. We chart the seven days 10% of global trade trickled to a stop MARCH 23rd - 29th
23rd
24th
25th
Suez Canal blocked by the Ever Given
First rescue attempts fail
Navigation of the channel suspended
At day break in Egypt, one of the world’s biggest container ships veers off course and becomes wedged diagonally across the Suez Canal. The Ever Given, a 400 metre, 20,000 TEU vessel, blocks transit and leaves dozens of ships stranded at either end of the canal.
Initial efforts to refloat the Ever Given fail. Tug boats and dredgers try to dig the ship out of the mud and nudge it away from the bank, but make little progress. By this time, more than 100 vessels are piling up, waiting for news.
The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) officially suspends navigation of the manmade strait “until the floatation works of the large Panamanian container vessel are complete.” The backlog grows by a further 50 ships.
14
April 2021
