The giant ship is finally free!
Is the story over though? Apparently not.
Some sources are saying that this whole ordeal could impact supply chains for a long time, but for how long?
The last thing any of us needed right now is more supply chain hang ups. 2020 saw some insanely heavy burdens on some supply chains.
No one likes a shortage, and I remember last year there were more than a few shortages on certain items.
Sometimes these shortages lasted for months, and it seems like this year is going to be no different.
Take a look:
BBC reported:
Tug boats honked their horns in celebration as the 400m-long (1,300ft) Ever Given was dislodged on Monday with the help of dredgers.
Hundreds of ships are waiting to pass through the canal which links the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.
It is one of the world's busiest trade routes.
Peter Berdowski, CEO of Dutch salvage company Boskalis, said the Ever Given had been refloated at 15:05 (13:05 GMT) on Monday, "thereby making free passage through the Suez Canal possible again".
Egyptian officials say the backlog of ships waiting to transit through should be cleared in around three days, but experts believe the knock-on effect on global shipping could take weeks or even months to resolve.Salvage teams had faced a daunting challenge after the 200,000-tonne ship ran aground last Tuesday morning in high winds and a sandstorm which reduced visibility.
A Dutch specialist team, SMIT, oversaw a flotilla of 13 tugs, small but powerful vessels that can shift large ships, as they tried to dislodge the Ever Given.
Dredgers were brought in and dug 30,000 cubic metres of mud and sand from beneath the ends of the ship.
CNBC had more on the story:
But while traffic has now resumed in the key waterway, the repercussions after days of halted movement will continue to be felt. Around 12% of global trade flows through the Suez Canal on massive ships like the Ever Given, which can hold 20,000 containers.
Lloyd’s List estimates that more than $9 billion worth of goods passes through the 120-mile waterway each day, translating to around $400 million per hour.
“The disruption of a week of this size is going to continue to have cascading effects ... it’s got to be at least 60 days before things get sorted out and appear to be a bit back to normal,” said Stephen Flynn, professor of political science at Northeastern University. “This level of disruption cascaded after every 24 hours,” he added.
The knock-on effects include congestion at ports as well as vessels not being in the right place for their next scheduled journey. Most importantly, it further exacerbates supply chains already reeling from a container shortage amid the Covid-19 buying boom.
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