The 400m long Ever Given was “successfully re-floated” at 4:30am local time today (Monday 29 March) and was being secured. Video posted on social media appeared to show the ship’s stern had swung around, opening space in the canal.
The Suez Canal – an important global shipping route accounting for about 15% of world shipping traffic – had been blocked since last Tuesday. The blockage of the waterway was putting more pressure on already strained supply chains, costing global trade billions of dollars a week.
While stranded, the Ever Given has been laden with up to 20,000 containers. About 50 vessels a day, carrying a total of $3bn to $9bn worth of cargo, normally make the journey north or south between the port of Suez and Port Said. The narrow, 200 km passage of water linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean allows ships of colossal proportions to navigate a relatively direct route from Asia to Europe, rather than taking a 9,000 km / 10-day diversion around Africa.
Australia, like so many other countries, would have suffered noticeable effects if the crisis had gone on much longer. Our shippers use the Suez Canal both to import and export. The imports are mostly oil and oil products, such as fuel for cars and trucks. The exports mainly consist of both containerised cargo and bulk coal shipments. It’s our exporters who stood to be hurt most by the canal disaster, threatening to put a dent in our recent big trade surpluses.
We are still waiting on the full details of the re-floating, but at this stage it looks like the crisis is over, bringing a collective sigh of relief to the entire global supply chain.
As a licensed Customs Broker and International Freight Forwarder, Colless Young offers correct, professional advice on all your import and export requirements. Based in Brisbane, we provide a complete range of logistics services, both air and sea, through all Australian ports and airports. We handle customs clearance, shipping, trucking, warehousing and fumigation.
