On August 9, a huge cargo ship was stranded at sea and is going around in circles for arriving late by thirty minutes.
What happened?
The cargo vessel ‘Peak Pegasus’ loaded with soya bean was found aimlessly moving around in sea in north-east China because it was half an hour late to reach its port.
The vessel had set off with more than £15 million ($20million) worth of soya beans from the United States and intended to reach Dalian, northeast China, on July 6 to offload the 70000 tons of beans.
Caught in Trade War
However, the vessel arrived late by thirty minutes and was refused access at the port because of the ongoing trade war where US and China imposed tariffs on each other at the start of July.
The vessel was not able to clear the customs and was left stranded in the Yellow Sea.
Costly Chartering
The owner of the beans has been deciding what to do about the situation – but it is allegedly costing the agricultural firm some $12,500 (£9,600) each day to continue to charter the ship.
It means the extra distance added to the voyage has cost more than $400,000 (£310,000). The market price of US soybeans has slumped since the trade war began. But the ship has become an unlikely star on social media since the news emerged. Graphics show its endless laps in the area.
Keeping it At Sea
At present, the boat was stranded near the Dalian’s coast and experts have expressed that it could still make financial sense to keep the beans at sea, potentially for months, rather than sell the beans at a discounted price in Europe which would result in loss of potential profit and also the cost of diverting the vessel elsewhere.
Unloading the cargo now would incur a 25% tariff, adding around $6m (£4.6m) to the cost of bringing them into the country. Soya beans are used for the production of cooking oil, biodiesel and meal to feed livestock.
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Source: Metro
