Stuck ship could sink key supplies

If there’s one thing this past year has taught us, is that supply chains are fragile things. One glitch can knock the whole system down like so many dominoes.

And so it is that a massive ship blocking the Suez Canal can spell trouble for the toilet paper supply.

It may not be the first thing that comes to mind when seeing footage of the hulking cargo ship stuck sideways in the canal, like a hapless driver failing midway through a three-point turn, but the threat is there.

The owner of the Ever Given, the 200,000-ton ship that ran aground this week when high winds turned it sideways, has apologized, which is nice, but does nothing to de-wedge the vessel.

A line of over 200 cargo ships are stuck behind the Ever Given, carrying consumer goods and the materials to make them.

The accident has already put a strain on oil prices, as some of those idling cargo vessels contain shipments of oil. The price of crude jumped this week, as did concerns that the logjam might increase gas prices.

Walter Schalka, CEO of the Brazilian wood pulp company Suzano SA, told Bloomberg News that the firm was struggling to transport the raw material for toilet paper amid the delays.

Schalka is worried that the shipping woes are going to worsen — causing major disruptions to the pulp trade that could impact supplies of toilet paper if producers don’t have sufficient inventories, according to Bloomberg.

We experienced a toilet paper shortage before, during the height of the pandemic, and it wasn’t pretty. Hoarding, supermarket brawls and outrageous prices for online supplies added to the anxiety of lockdown life.

We may get lucky and the ship gets unstuck and goes on its merry way. Or the solution could take awhile — remember the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico and BP’s infamous “junk shot” of golf balls, shredded tires and knotted rope to plug the leak?

But should the Suez Canal conundrum indeed spark supply chain gaps, here’s hoping we learned the need for civility and patience in dealing with a shortage.

We can get through anything.