- The Panama-flagged Coral Crystal got temporarily trapped in the Suez Canal Authority’s northern sector (SCA).
- The rise in shipping rates poses a challenge to the world economy as it struggles to recover from the financial crisis.
A bulk carrier ship became stuck in the Suez Canal for a short time, the latest instance following the case of Ever Given, a massive cargo ship that became jammed sideways in the waterway in March, reports an article published in Newsweek.
According to Reuters, the Panama-flagged Coral Crystal, carrying 43,000 tonnes of cargo, got temporarily trapped in the Suez Canal Authority’s northern sector (SCA). According to the SCA statement, the ship was refloated, and there was no impact on traffic on the waterway. The Coral Crystal is now sailing in the Red Sea en route to Port Sudan, according to VesselFinder, which offers daily real-time data on the positions and movements of over 200,000 vessels.
Ships Getting Stuck
Speaking to Newsweek, a spokesperson for the International Maritime Organization (IMO) of the United Nations said: “For any incident, there would be an investigation, and we would need to wait for that investigation into the cause of any incident and any recommendations stemming from that.
“M/v Coral Crystal had engine difficulty and grounded at Km 54 1114 Hrs SB,” Leth Agencies, a canal service provider for the Suez and other waterways, tweeted. According to Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, initial examinations of the Ever Given event revealed the vessel was grounded owing to heavy weather and ruled out any mechanical or engine failure as a reason for the grounding (BSM).
“There were no reports of pollution or cargo damage,” BSM said in a statement on April 29.
The fallout of Ships Blocking
The Coral Crystal’s blockage of the Suez was “a minor traffic issue that was resolved in less than an hour,” a canal official says. The incident did not affect the southbound convoy, however, as remaining vessels were able to pass. However, Ever Given’s delay had greater consequences after being stuck sideways in the canal for weeks. Even after it was freed and deemed fit for onward travel by its technical managers, the vessel remained in Egypt’s Great Bitter Lake for months after it was seized by the Egyptian government, which sought $900 million in compensation for costs arising from its rescue.
In a statement, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) explained: “When the Ever Given mega-ship blocked traffic in the Suez Canal for almost a week in March, it triggered a new surge in container spot freight rates, which had finally started to settle from the all-time highs reached during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The rise in shipping rates poses a challenge to the world economy as it struggles to recover from the financial crisis, it says. The head of UNCTAD’s trade and logistics branch, Jan Hoffmann, said, “The Ever Given incident reminded the world just how much we rely on shipping,”
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Source: Newsweek
