The container ship that was stuck for over a week across the Suez Canal has finally been freed (at least partially thanks to a full moon and higher-than-normal tides). But it's interesting to look at a few figures, because most of us have no idea just how damned big these ships are, and just how much international trade goes through the Suez Canal.
The Taiwanese-owned Ever Given is about 400 metres long (1,312 ft), about as long as the Empire State Tower is high, and substantially bigger than the largest cruise ship, Symphony of the Seas. It weighs nearly 220,000 tonnes, and can carry about 20,000 of those huge standard 20 ft x 40 ft containers (it was carrying about 18,300 containers at the time it was stranded last week).
The Suez Canal, which was opened in 1869 (although it was substantially enlarged in 2015), sees about 12% of global sea trade pass through its 193 km (120 miles) length. This amounts to about 18,500 container ships a year (over 50 a day). At the end of Ever Given's week of blockage, some 369 other ships were held up waiting to pass through, representing an estimated $9.6 billion in trade. Egypt was losing about $15 million a day in canal revenues.
Quite an expensive fender-bender!
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