One ship at the center
of a major marine traffic jam.
Sudden strong winds, even a dust storm,
likely pushed Evergreen's ship, The Ever Given
of it's path so much so that the ship became wedged sideways
across the Suez Canal, wall to wall.
Tug boats and cranes are trying to free it,
but the ship is massive and heavy.
It holds 20,000 shipping containers.
If they cannot free her from the banks,
then they've gotta find a way to off load some
of those containers to reduce the weight of the ship
so that she can actually then be free to float.
The Ever Given is blocking
one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
50 ships a day normally use this passage.
Each of these dots is one waiting to get through.
The Suez Canal accounts for about 10%
of global oil shipment each year.
Oil prices climbed today more than 5%,
but the impact may not last
if the ship is dislodged quickly.
All of this hinges on this being resolved
in kind of a day or two.
Once you get into a couple days longer, a week,
this easily becomes a very, very different ball game.
There is an alternative route.
Instead of cutting through Egypt,
ships can also go around the southern tip of Africa.
However, that takes about 1/3 more time and more fuel.
That's part of the reason why people use the Suez Canal,
'cause it's quicker and cheaper and in cost terms.
Taking the long way
could have cascading effects
for buyers expecting shipments quickly
and for the price of delivery.
Consequences of the world's reliance
on a single choke point,
but building a back up canal would be costly
and most of the time, ships sail through smoothly.
Unless one in million chance a ship gets stuck sideways,
everything is working pretty well.
Still, for the shipping industry,
that one in a million is just the latest, unexpected setback
in a year unlike any other.
Jacqueline Hansen, CBC News, Toronto.