Giant Ship Stuck In The Suez Canal

[casimira]

What a mess! Billions of dollars of all manner of cargo. Perishable foods, machinery, etc. At last count I believe it's causing a back up of at least 200 ships and other watercraft.

[mossie]

What is perhaps worse is that it will seriously impact on the supply of goods and push up prices

[casimira]

Precisely. Just what the world needs right now. Another global crisis.

[kerouac2]

At least this crisis can be easily fixed (at great expense of course), or if not the ships will just go around Africa. We've been through this before, much more seriously. Has everybody forgotten that the Suez Canal was closed from 1967 to 1975 after the six-day war? And it was also closed in 1956-1957 due to the Suez crisis.

Of course, international maritime trade was not nearly as huge back then.

[casimira]

And, the world was not experiencing a deadly virus. So, your historic comparisons seem a bit moot.

[kerouac2]

I do not understand associating the two. Are electronic components and washing machines being delayed going to make the big difference?

[casimira]

Kerouac, there are literally tons of other vital items on these ships other than washing machine parts and the like.
So, yes, there lies the comparison.

[kerouac2]

They are not shipping vaccines through the canal.

[tod2]

I believe they have to get it moved tonight while the tide in in. Next high tide is in about two weeks. C'mon Nelly ól gal...You can do it!

[casimira]

Mar 28, 2021 15:53:52 GMT kerouac2 said:

They are not shipping vaccines through the canal.

I didn't suggest that they are. But, there may be hardware and other vital components that are critical in the production of the vaccines. Or, refrigerators and/or parts that are critical to to keeping the vaccines viable etc.

[kerouac2]

I'm sure that would have been the very first thing mentioned in the news reports if that were the case, unless they need to hide that from us. Having worked for an airline, I had the experience that anything urgent went by air freight over long distances, and even non urgent things if the customer had too much money. I remember that Caterpillar was one of our largest customers for about two years because the customer could not stand the idea of waiting an week or two to go through the canal. (These Caterpillar items came from Belgium and were going to Saudi Arabia, very close to the canal. It was ridiculous.)

[onlyMark]

Mentions are being made of animals being shipped that are delayed and concerns over that.

[kerouac2]

Yes, I read somewhere that there are six ships full of cattle among the ships trapped. I doubt that they will survive very long.

[onlyMark]

The ships or the cattle?

[questa]

Another good reason to Ban Live Exports
I doubt the animals are being fed the correct rations unless it is being choppered in. They will probably be destroyed. No room for dead cows so how to dispose of the carcases.
Good luck with the tide, fellahs!

[lagatta]

Agree with questa.

[bixaorellana]

I have to agree that blocking the canal has the proportions of an international crisis, just in terms of gumming up the works in general. Incidents like this always have a domino effect. We may not be immediately affected by some of the fallout, but it's surely devastating to all kinds of businesses in the chain of supply. Certainly live animals are not going to fare well in this situation -- you are too right about that, Questa!

[kerouac2]

The container ship has now been partially dislodged.

[kerouac2]

[casimira]

NPR, a trusted news source here, broadcast this a.m. that there are now up to 350 watercraft being blocked from passage through the canal.

[whatagain]

On average 50 ships go throygh each day.
So the figure seems correct.
CNN says the ship is freed.

[kerouac2]

The BBC says the same.

[casimira]

I was just about to post an update that the ship has indeed been "freed".

[questa]

They will have to check for damage to the ship and the canal infrastructure before the ships can start moving again.

[casimira]

Mar 30, 2021 0:35:51 GMT questa said:

They will have to check for damage to the ship and the canal infrastructure before the ships can start moving again.

Agree completely!
And, not only that, but a lot of the cargo on those ships contain consumer goods that will and are having an affect on the groceries and consumer goods etc.in many countries. Do we need another shortage of the many items we already had earlier on in the beginning of this whole thing?

And, I'm not talking about health care items related to the virus but everyday items that are part of the everyday consumers here in the US.
I cannot speak specifically of other countries because I am not that aware of the impact yet.
TBC...
But, it is a cluster F**K no matter how one chooses to view it.

[kerouac2]

They said that Syria was going to have to ration oil for a bit.

[whatagain]

They said paper pulp would be delayed and toiletpaper would be scarce.
I bought 456 rolls, that i put in the freezer.

My wife when i said so told me our cat Rubis would be delighted, as it plays with these rolls. He can destroy one per day if we don't pay attention...

[questa]

Shipping businesses have dramas all the time...containers overboard in rough weather, mechanical breakdowns and pirates. If we worried about all that can go wrong we would be psychological wrecks. Let's be grateful that no-one was killed and the goods are now flowing again.

[tod2]

Mar 31, 2021 8:48:24 GMT questa said:

.containers overboard in rough weather,

This is no bull....A container that capsized overboard in rough seas rolled up on a beach - could have been here in S.A. not sure, but at anyrate it was full of Harley-Davidson motorbikes. As there is some ruling about stuff found on a beach several people landed up with a lovely motorcycle for free!

[kerouac2]

On the shores of Brittany, plastic Garfield telephones have been washing up on the coast for years. I forget where it was, but somewhere in the world the beaches were covered with dildos a few years ago.