MV Ever Given

2021

Suez Canal, six days, 450 ships waiting Location: Suez Canal, near Manshiyet Rugola, Egypt · Coordinates: 30.02°N 32.58°E · Casualties: 0 · Survivors: 25 · Depth: grounded · refloated · Cause: grounding · sandstorm — Ran aground in the Suez Canal at 07:40 on 23 March 2021 during a sandstorm with 50-knot winds. The 400-metre container ship wedged diagonally across the 200-metre-wide channel. Refloated at 15:02 on 29 March. · Fate: refloated · still in service · Type: container ship · Evergreen · Tonnage: 220,940 tons · Crew: 25 · Flag: Panama · Launched: 2018 Panamanian-flagged container ship of Evergreen Marine, Yantian to Rotterdam with 18,300 containers. Ran aground at 07:40 on 23 March 2021 in a Suez Canal sandstorm and wedged the 400-metre hull diagonally across the 200-metre channel. The canal was blocked for six days; 422 ships waited in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean approaches, re-routing cost an estimated $400 million a day. Refloated on 29 March after a spring tide and the extraction of 27,000 cubic metres of sand. The Vessel The MV Ever Given was a Panamanian-flagged container ship of the Taiwanese Evergreen Marine Corporation, built at the Imabari Shipbuilding yard at Imabari, Japan in 2018. She was 400 metres long (one of the largest container ships ever built), 199,629 gross tons, and powered by a diesel engine producing approximately 80,000 horsepower. Her specific capacity was approximately 20,124 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent container units), making her one of the largest container ships in the world. The specific Golden-class of ultra-large container ships (to which Ever Given belonged) represented the state of the art in container shipping: designed for maximum cargo capacity on the major Asia-Europe trade routes. Her operational role in March 2021 was the standard Asia-Europe container rotation: specifically Asian ports (predominantly Chinese) to European ports (predominantly Rotterdam and Hamburg) via the Suez Canal. Her master on her final voyage was Captain Krishnan Kanthavel, 55, an Indian merchant marine officer. Her complement on 23 March 2021 was 25 crew, predominantly Indian and Filipino merchant marine personnel. The Disaster The specific consequence of the Ever Given grounding was the complete blockage of the Suez Canal for approximately 6 days (from 23 March through 29 March 2021). The specific economic impact was extraordinary. The specific Suez Canal carried approximately 10-12 per cent of global seaborne trade; the specific blockage produced a backup of approximately 400 commercial vessels waiting for transit by 29 March 2021; the specific economic impact from the delayed trade was estimated at approximately 9.6 billion US dollars per day of blockage. The specific salvage operation was one of the largest marine rescue operations in history. The specific operation was conducted by the Dutch Smit Salvage company in cooperation with the Suez Canal Authority. The specific operation involved: (i) systematic dredging to create space around the ship's bow; (ii) approximately 12 tugs coordinating push-and-pull operations; (iii) progressive ballast-water adjustments to reduce the ship's draft; (iv) tide-window management to optimise the refloating. The specific refloating was achieved on 29 March 2021 at approximately 15:05 local time, approximately 6 days and 7 hours after the initial grounding. The specific successful refloating was preceded by a high-tide window combined with systematic tug and dredging operations. MV Ever Given did not sink; she was successfully refloated and subsequently continued her voyage. However, the specific ship was detained by Egyptian authorities for approximately 3 mont