Remember Manchester’s own ‘blocked Suez’ drama?
THE last ships stranded by a giant vessel stuck in the Suez Canal have now finally passed through the waterway.
For more than a week, the 400m-long Ever Given brought global trade to a grinding halt as it sat wedged diagonally in the water, costing billions of pounds a day.
Around 400 ships were left waiting at either end of the Egyptian canal, while a desperate operation to dislodge the gigantic vessel captured the attention of the world.
As global trade is slowly returns to speed, we recount the tale of how a eerily similar incident brought Manchester’s own waterways to a grinding halt almost 52 years ago to the day.
On the evening of Sunday, March 16, 1969, the Manchester Courage made its way into Irlam Locks just after 11pm, according to an account in the Cadishead and Irlam Guardian from the time.
The 12,300-tonne computerised cargo ship had a clearance of just nine inches on each side as it waited for the water to drop by 15ft to reach the level of 29ft needed to continue the voyage.
But by 11.05pm, disaster had struck.
The Manchester Courage, carrying 452 containers of general cargo, turned into a weapon of mast destruction, smashing into the lock gates, trapping them under the bows of the ship.
Water poured from the broken lock and the bows of the vessel settled on the sill – a large raised ledge at the top end of the lock which the gate closes against.
As the water drained almost completely from the lock, the higher lock gates buckled under the pressure of water above Irlam Locks.
Much like the Suez Canal crisis, teams worked ‘desperately’ to try and free the ship in the wake of the crash.
As debris gathered under the Manchester Courage, fears escalated that the bows themselves may have been fractured as they rammed into the lock gates.
According to investigators, the Guardian reports, the Manchester Courage was supposed to automatically reverse slightly as the first lock gates were closed. But, instead of reversing, the ship went forward through the lower lock gates.
As a result, the water level between Barton and Irlam had to be dropped and all major navigation above Irlam Locks stopped for six to eight weeks.
A total of 15 ships - nine deep-sea vessels and six coastal vessels - were expected to be penned in Manchester Docks for nearly eight weeks.
A 25-tonne floating crane then sprang into action to clear the remains of the rammed lock gates and bring in replacements from Barton and Runcorn, before the Barton-Irlam stretch of the canal could be used again.
The Guardian reported that the damage to the Courage and loss of trade to port would bring the final bill over £1m – just more than £14m in today’s coin.