Shipping boss apologises for 'tremendous trouble' as new attempts made to free cargo ship blocking Suez Canal

[Agent Fisher]

Wouldn't be the first time the canal was intentionally shut. The Six Day War between Egypt and Isreal blocked the canal for the next five or six years. Look up the Yellow Fleet, it was a group of neutral ships trapped in the bitter lake cause the north and south ends were blocked.

As for digging a second channel for the canal? Doable, especially with modern construction methods. But I doubt they will. Unless you could get enough foreign contributions to building a new channel, I don't think the Suez Canal authority and Egypt would want to cut into profits that much for the long term gain.

[Rogue 9]

I think they need to consider that in the future such an event might not be an accident. What is the plan for a bad actor hijacking a ship, even for a short period, and deliberately sticking the ship into a narrow section of canal sideways before blowing a chunk of its hull out and destroying its machinery? If this took a week how long might that mess take? What if the hijackers take hostages and actively defend the wreck?

I think that there's a large potential cost to not effectively doubling up the canal so it runs two-lands along its entire route and a near term cost which is relatively cheap in that we can control its budget and pace whereas we can't do so for the next blockage that comes along.

That kind of economic terrorism isn't really most of the big terrorist players' go to. The ones that go in for spectacular attacks (Al Qaeda and similar) want high body counts and destroyed symbols, not just a jammed up canal. Not to say it couldn't be done, but I don't know who would do it.

[Jub]

Wouldn't be the first time the canal was intentionally shut. The Six Day War between Egypt and Isreal blocked the canal for the next five or six years. Look up the Yellow Fleet, it was a group of neutral ships trapped in the bitter lake cause the north and south ends were blocked.

As for digging a second channel for the canal? Doable, especially with modern construction methods. But I doubt they will. Unless you could get enough foreign contributions to building a new channel, I don't think the Suez Canal authority and Egypt would want to cut into profits that much for the long term gain.

I do recall that fleet, but I wasn't born yet when it was happening so didn't feel the impact. Now, between this and COVID, I've become acutely aware that the container ship is the lifeblood of the modern world.

[Jub]

That kind of economic terrorism isn't really most of the big terrorist players' go to. The ones that go in for spectacular attacks (Al Qaeda and similar) want high body counts and destroyed symbols, not just a jammed up canal. Not to say it couldn't be done, but I don't know who would do it.

I'd see it as a play that a state-level actor might go to if they felt they had something to gain by causing others to suffer. Like maybe a Russia in a post-oil economy might use it as it put pressure on Chinese shipping to try to get an edge in some trade deal. It's an unlikely thing to do, but hardly unthinkable.

[Broomstick]

What would it take to widen the canal? Say by digging trenches on either side, the removing the existing canal walls?

Because as ships get bigger, the likelyhood of something like this happening again goes up.

They did widen the canal. The response has been bigger ships. Shippers will build ships to the largest size that can fit through choke-points.

I think they need to consider that in the future such an event might not be an accident. What is the plan for a bad actor hijacking a ship, even for a short period, and deliberately sticking the ship into a narrow section of canal sideways before blowing a chunk of its hull out and destroying its machinery? If this took a week how long might that mess take? What if the hijackers take hostages and actively defend the wreck?

I think that there's a large potential cost to not effectively doubling up the canal so it runs two-lands along its entire route and a near term cost which is relatively cheap in that we can control its budget and pace whereas we can't do so for the next blockage that comes along.

After the Six Day War in 1967 Egypt closed the canal with scuttled vessels and mines. Fifteen cargo ships were left stranded mid-crossing. Clearing the mines took two years when they finally got around to cleaning up the mess. The canal remained closed for eight years. So what you fear has already happened.

Even if you double the traffic lanes the canal will remain a choke-point.

[Ralin]

They did widen the canal. The response has been bigger ships. Shippers will build ships to the largest size that can fit through choke-points.

So...isn't the obvious solution for the government that controls the canal to set a limit on how large of a ship they're willing to let use it?

[Solauren]

They did widen the canal. The response has been bigger ships. Shippers will build ships to the largest size that can fit through choke-points.

So...isn't the obvious solution for the government that controls the canal to set a limit on how large of a ship they're willing to let use it?

Or start charging for passage based on the size of the ship, and increasing the costs to make bigger ships prohibitive.

[Solauren]

I think they need to consider that in the future such an event might not be an accident. What is the plan for a bad actor hijacking a ship, even for a short period, and deliberately sticking the ship into a narrow section of canal sideways before blowing a chunk of its hull out and destroying its machinery? If this took a week how long might that mess take? What if the hijackers take hostages and actively defend the wreck?

The list of people that might be willing to do that is surprising.

Besides terrorists (religious, political, economic or environmental), you also have to consider the possibility of someone doing it for financial gain (basically holding the canal hostage), or even just because they're upset with the ships owner/employer!

[EnterpriseSovereign]

They did widen the canal. The response has been bigger ships. Shippers will build ships to the largest size that can fit through choke-points.

So...isn't the obvious solution for the government that controls the canal to set a limit on how large of a ship they're willing to let use it?

Or start charging for passage based on the size of the ship, and increasing the costs to make bigger ships prohibitive.

Behold, the Seawise Giant!

TT Seawise Giant—earlier Oppama; later Happy Giant, Jahre Viking, Knock Nevis, and Mont—was a ULCC supertanker that was the longest self-propelled ship in history, built by Sumitomo Heavy Industries in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan. It possessed the greatest deadweight tonnage ever recorded. Fully laden, its displacement was 657,019 tonnes.

The heaviest self-propelled ship of any kind, and with a laden draft of 24.6 m (81 ft), it was incapable of navigating the English Channel, the Suez Canal or the Panama Canal. Overall, it is generally considered the largest self-propelled ship ever built.[5][6] Although in recent years its overall length has been surpassed by 30m by the Floating Liquified Natural Gas installation Shell Prelude (FLNG), a monohull barge design 488m long and 600,000 tonnes displacement. Seawise Giant's engines were powered by the Ljungström turbine technology.

It was sunk in 1988 during the Iran–Iraq War, but was later salvaged and restored to service.[7] The vessel was converted to a floating storage and offloading unit (FSO) in 2004, moored off the coast of Qatar in the Persian Gulf at the Al Shaheen Oil Field.[8]

The vessel was sold to Indian ship breakers, and renamed Mont for a final journey in December 2009. After clearing Indian customs, the ship sailed to Alang, Gujarat, where it was beached for scrapping.[8][9]

[Sky Captain]

If you look at Google sattelite images some parts of the canal already have two lanes so I think it is possible making it all two lane already is work in progress.

If some bad actor intentionally hijacks and grounds a ship in this manner and then sinks it then it could take a year or more to cut it apart and remove. It would cause a giant economic mess because almost everything is made in China or have vital parts made in China. Ships can go around Africa, but it takes longer so more ships are needed to transport same amount of cargo because each ship can make fewer trips per year. In the name of cutting costs shipping companies don't like having spare ships. A prolonged canal blocade could lead to all sorts of shortages from oil and food to electronics.

When canal was blocked for years after Six Day war economic effect was far less because manufacturing were more local and global economy wasn't as dependent on just in time deliveries as it is now.

[Solauren]

And the Saga resumes....

https://nationalpost.com/news/world/egy ... mpensation

The insurer said the Suez Canal Authority's claim was 'largely unsupported' and included a $300 million salvage bonus

CAIRO — A ship that blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week in March is being held in the waterway as canal authorities pursue a $916 million compensation claim against the ship’s Japanese owner, one of the vessel’s insurers and canal sources said on Tuesday.

The Ever Given container ship, owned by Shoei Kisen, has been in a lake separating two sections of the canal since it was dislodged on March 29, as the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) conducts investigations.

Two SCA sources, who declined to be named, told Reuters a court order had been issued for the ship to be held. Negotiations over the compensation claim were still taking place, according to one of the sources.

UK Club, the protection & indemnity (P&I) insurer for the Ever Given, said the canal’s claim included $300 million for a “salvage bonus” and $300 million for “loss of reputation.”

“Despite the magnitude of the claim, which was largely unsupported, the owners and their insurers have been negotiating in good faith with the SCA,” UK Club said in a statement.

“On 12 April, a carefully considered and generous offer was made to the SCA to settle their claim. We are disappointed by the SCA’s subsequent decision to arrest the vessel today.”

Yumi Shinohara, deputy manager with owner Shoei Kisen’s fleet management department, confirmed earlier on Tuesday that the canal had made a compensation claim and that the ship had not been given clearance to leave, but gave no further details.

There was no immediate comment from the SCA, but the authority’s chairman Osama Rabie said on Egyptian TV last week that the Ever Given would not leave until the investigation was finished and compensation paid.

He said the canal had borne “great moral damage” as well as shipping fee losses and salvage operation costs. He has also said he hoped to settle matters amicably.

Results of the SCA’s investigation were expected to be announced by the end of the week, according to SCA sources.

International supply chains were thrown into disarray when the 400 meter (430 yard) Ever Given ran aground in the canal on March 23.

Specialist rescue teams took six days to free the vessel, delaying the passage of more than 400 ships and causing others to divert around Africa.

Industry sources told Reuters last week that reinsurers were set to foot most of the bill for the ship’s grounding, with payouts expected to run into hundreds of millions of dollars.

Ships typically have P&I insurance, which covers third party liability claims including environmental damage and injury. Separate hull and machinery policies cover vessels against physical damage.

One maritime lawyer said that normally the ship owner would pay an agreed security that would allow the vessel and crew to continue on their way with a court setting a final award later.

“Of course in this case, they are hoping for cash now,” he said.

(Reporting by Yusri Mohamed in Ismailia, Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo, Jonathan Saul and Kirstin Ridley in London; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Jane Merriman and Mark Potter)

[LadyTevar]

So what does that mean for the CARGO?

[Solauren]

So what does that mean for the CARGO?

No idea. Do we even know what the cargo IS?