SARAH BUITENDACH: The Ever Given is floating — and the gift that keeps on giving
Judging by the comments on news articles, the world has gained a bevy of dredging experts and master skippers in the past week
If you’ve been doing a trial run in your doomsday bunker for the past week, you might have missed the viral story about how one of the biggest ships in the world, the container-carrying Ever Given, is blocking the Suez Canal. It’s been almost a week since the behemoth plunged into the sandbank on the side of the waterway but finally, this morning, reports are coming through that the ship has been partially refloated and has moved out of its wedged position.
That the 193km Suez Canal is able to function at full throttle is fairly critical. This Egyptian engineering marvel joins the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, which makes it the most important sea route between Asia and Europe. As Bloomberg (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-28/progress-made-in-moving-ship-more-vessels-diverted-suez-update?srnd=premium-africa) points out, no less than 12% of global trade passes through that canal annually...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.