Releasing Container Ship From Suez Canal Could Capsize Ithttps://www.thedailybeast.com/releasing-container-ship-from-suez-canal-could-capsize-itWhile the global shipping industry bleeds $400 million each hour the massive Ever Given container ship stays stuck in the sand of the Suez Canal, an elite team of salvors on the ground in Egypt is facing an entirely different problem: How do you make a top-heavy ship stuck in shifting sands weigh less without capsizing it?
... “The worst case is that the ship is presently supported over her bow and stern areas, meaning possible sags in the middle.” ... “The risk is that it could also become top-heavy and capsize,” Captain John Konrad, founder and CEO of gCaptain shipping industry website, said. “And that would be catastrophic.”
But before anyone can even think of lightening the massive vessel—which is 1,312 feet long and 194 feet wide, with 50 feet of the ship below the water—they would need to download the schematics of the ship and run them through a series of computer-generated programs to determine what offloading will do to the balance. And then, they would have to somehow get a maritime crane to Egypt since the country does not own one tall enough to reach the top of the Ever Given’s 20,000 containers.
The information used to determine how to lighten the 200,000 metric-ton ship enough to nudge it out of the sand, which buries the vessel a little more with each passing tide, will be largely based on the ship’s own records—assuming they are correct and were not fudged to pass what the Maritime Anti Corruption Network once called the most corrupt port system in the world.
Ship's data so far shows it was also traveling 13 knots in an 8 knot speed zone when the accident happened.Several salvors have also said the most likely cause was a blackout power outage that compromised steering just as the wind gust came up.
Coincidentally, this same ship was involved in an accident in Hamburg in 2019, when its owners rammed into a ferry and destroyed it. They had blamed the accident on a loss of steering power and high winds back then, too.https://amp.mopo.de/hamburg/frachter-rammt-faehre-knapp-an-der-katastrophe-vorbei-32016794?__twitter_impression=trueSalvors say the next opportunity to move the ship will be during spring tides on Sunday and Monday. If that doesn’t work, it could take weeks to dig her out of the sand, hopefully while keeping her upright and intact.
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Freighter Rams Ferryhttps://amp.mopo.de/hamburg/frachter-rammt-faehre-knapp-an-der-katastrophe-vorbei-32016794?__twitter_impression=trueA huge container ship, a tiny jetty and in between a small Hadag ferry: on Saturday morning there was a loud bang at the Blankenese jetty.
The freighter “Ever Given” collided with the ferry “Finkenwerder ”, which is now a total loss (MOPO reported). There are now many indications that the strong wind caused the crash - and only chance prevented a major accident.
Fortunately, there were no passengers on board
MegaCarrier Ever Given crushes ferry Finkenwerder between pierAt the time of the collision, wind force seven (32–38 mph 50–61 km/h) prevailed off Blankenese - with gusts of force eight! Apparently too much for a ship the size of the "Ever Given". Because at Blankenese, the freighters usually travel at six knots - too slow to "weather" strong winds, as it is called in the language of seafaring.
In addition, the wind was blowing from the south-west, i.e. diagonally from the side - and pushed the tall ship towards the north bank of the Elbe.
Although two pilots were on board to support the captain, as is required in Hamburg, and even though the freighter was attached to the tug, the tall ships are very vulnerable in strong gusts and, according to insiders, difficult to control.
“It's like black ice when driving a car,” explains an experienced pilot to MOPO. "You can only be lucky there."
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Oil Jumps 4% On Fears Suez Canal Blockage May Last Weekshttps://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN2BI041NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than 4% on Friday on worries global supplies of crude and refined products could be disrupted for weeks as workers try to dislodge a giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal.
"Today the market is up again as traders in a change of heart decided that the Suez Canal blockade is actually becoming more significant for oil flows and supply deliveries than they previously concluded," said Paola Rodriguez Masiu, Rystad Energy's vice president of oil markets.
The Suez Canal stepped up efforts on Friday to free the stuck mega vessel, after an earlier attempt failed. Efforts to free it may take weeks, with possible complications from unstable weather.
Of the 39.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of total seaborne crude in 2020, 1.74 million bpd went through the Suez Canal, according to data intelligence firm Kpler. Additionally, 1.54 million bpd of refined oil products flow through the canal, about 9% of global seaborne oil product trade, Kpler said.
... At least 237 ships were waiting for the Ever Given to be cleared, including vessels near Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea, Port Suez on the Red Sea and those already stuck on a lake midcanal, said Leth Agencies, which provides services for the canal.
Using data from Automatic Identification System trackers on ships at sea, data firm Refinitiv shared an analysis with the AP showing that over 300 ships remained en route to the waterway over the next two weeks.
