SUEZ SHIP BACKLOG CLEARED

80 to 90 ships passed through canal each day since ‘Ever Given’ was freed

THE queue of hundreds of ships that built up around the Suez Canal after the grounding of the Ever Given vessel has been cleared, according to Egyptian authorities.

The final 85 ships passed through the waterway on Saturday, the Suez Canal Authority said on its Facebook page, adding that the operation demonstrated its ability to manage emergencies.

Overall, 422 vessels passed through since the tanker was freed on March 29, after blocking the canal for almost a week. The 200,000-tonne MV Ever Given was refloated with the help of international salvage experts.

The 400m-long Ever Given container vessel, owned by Japan’s Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd, ran aground on March 23 in the southern part of the canal.

The waterway handles about 12 per cent of world commerce.

Its blockage snarled supply chains already under pressure due to the coronavirus pandemic and provided a stark reminder of the fragility of global trade infrastructure.

The canal normally handles about 50 ships a day, but had to increase that figure to 80 to 90 to clear the backlog.

Egypt plans to seek about US$1 billion in compensation for lost transit fees and damages, the Canal Authority said on Wednesday. It did not specify who should provide the compensation.

The Ever Given and its cargo are in the Great Bitter Lake, roughly halfway along the canal.

Most of the vessels waiting were bulk carriers — which transport unpackaged cargo such as grains, coal and iron ore — and container ships, according to Leth Agencies, which provides Suez Canal crossing services. There were around 75 crude-oil and chemical tankers, it said.

“All the ships waiting in the waterway since the grounding of Ever Given have completed passage,” Suez Canal Authority chief Osama Rabie said.

Rabie acknowledged that the blockage, which began when the ship veered off course in a sandstorm, left Egypt’s international shipping and wider reputation on the line.

Egyptian authorities have presented the freeing of the megaship as a vindication of the country’s engineering and salvage capabilities.

“Ninety-nine percent” of personnel who worked to refloat the giant vessel were Egyptian, Rabie said.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had pledged investment to ensure no repeat of the episode, and the Suez Canal Authority said new tugboats and dredgers were needed.

Maritime data company Lloyd’s List said the blockage had held up an estimated US$9.6 billion worth of cargo each day between Asia and Europe.

The canal is economically vital to Egypt, which lost between US$12 million and $15 million in revenues for each day the waterway was closed, according to the canal authority.

Nearly 19,000 ships navigated the canal last year, working out an average of just over 50 per day, the canal authority said.

But the president and port authority have ruled out any further widening of the southern stretch of the canal where the boat became diagonally stuck.