[imagesource: Cnes2021, Distribution Airbus DS via AP]
Here’s a quick stat to make you feel better about any workplace blunders you may have made in recent times.
The Ever Given, the stranded mega-container vessel currently blocking the Suez Canal, is holding up an estimated $400 million an hour in global trade.
CNBC reports that shipping data company Lloyd’s “values the canal’s westbound traffic at roughly $5,1 billion a day, and eastbound traffic at around $4,5 billion a day”, for a total of $9,6 billion in disrupted trade daily.
It makes that report you bungled, or email you forgot to send, seem rather mild in comparison.
For those who like memes, the blockage has proven to be a goldmine. We compiled some of the best, but I must drop one below:
What is happing in #SuezCanal today explained.#Egypt
pic.twitter.com/T06bFDGQ7q— Zaina Erhaim (@ZainaErhaim) March 24, 2021
That will always make me smile.
For those who really want to follow the unfolding attempts to dislodge the boat closely, you’ll want to check out MyShipTracking.
The Verge describes why:
[It’s] basically a version of FlightRadar24 for boats. You get a top-down interactive map to play around with that is updated in near real time, so you can watch all of the little tug and support boats helplessly swarm around the MV Ever Given or check out all of the other ships stuck waiting (or watch them finally decide to bail and go around Africa instead).
It also has the easiest access I’ve found to highlight a ship’s prior track, so you can quickly scour the different paths the various boats took to get to this new dead end.
I popped in to check out MyShipTracking’s real-time visual, and found this:
Still very much stuck.
There is also VesselFinder, which also gives us a great look at the massive backlog:
It also allows us to recreate the ill-fated attempts by the ship to extricate itself, before becoming firmly stuck:
That Austin Powers meme makes a great deal more sense now, right?
We should also give props to whoever edits the Suez Canal Authority videos, for this dramatic soundtrack:
Let’s enjoy some ultra HD images before we part ways:
We rotated our SAR imagery of the #SuezCanal blockage for easier visual interpretation, placing the layover up and shadow down. The annotation shows the footprint, deck and cargo of the Ever Given as well as a support vessel in the canal. pic.twitter.com/bQnnR4WGJE
— Capella Space (@capellaspace) March 25, 2021
For the sake of international trade, let’s hope the Ever Given can free itself and be on its way.
