https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/world-economy/ever-given-ship-blocking-suez-canal-could-be-stuck-for-weeks/news-story/39d9835a3e98cadbfd5686d75cdaf37c

for days now a container vessel has been stuck in the Suez canal, aside from bankrupting the Egyptian government, this has the potential to disrupt world trade and I don't see the world powers doing anything about it. Who would have thought it was so easy just beach a container ship. To get it out they might have to redig the canal

Suez Canal built 1870s . I'm guessing it was not designed to take a cargo ship 224,000 tons the size of the Empire State building . What exactly do you think the "world powers ": can do about it ?

Well I'm sure they have powerfull tugs and dredges afterall it is their trade that is affected, but I guess your solution is to ban large ships from using it

I don't have a solution . Egypt owns the canal and gets all tolls for transit . There are tugs already attempting to dislodge the ship . How many rescue vessels do you think can operate around the Ever Given ? Maybe Egypt should have limits on the size of the vessels allowed to transverse .

They obviously need a lot more than 8 tugboats.

Ship happens

I don't have a solution . Egypt owns the canal and gets all tolls for transit . There are tugs already attempting to dislodge the ship . How many rescue vessels do you think can operate around the Ever Given ? Maybe Egypt should have limits on the size of the vessels allowed to transverse .
you see it all comes down to money, Egypt won't ban big ships while ever they are paid, the solution is to build a wider, deeper, bigger canal but cash strapped Egypt won't do it, after all they didn't dig the original, it took an empire to do that. Of course we could go back to making the source of goods closer to home and leave a few chinese on the unemployment lines


Ship happens

Yes it certainly did this time

According to reports the weather beached the boat but for whatever reason a lot of money will be spent any way to correct the situation they didn't see coming. I imagine the costs of the greatly delayed cargo will go way up as well as delays on the traffic back up.

They should have seen it coming, it isn't the first time it has happened

Look who has to come to the rescue yet again. "Navy sending team to Suez Canal to help dig out massive ship blocking passage."
https://www.foxnews.com/world/navy-team-suez-canal-dig-out-massive-ship-blocking-passage

you see it all comes down to money, Egypt won't ban big ships while ever they are paid, the solution is to build a wider, deeper, bigger canal but cash strapped Egypt won't do it, after all they didn't dig the original, it took an empire to do that. Of course we could go back to making the source of goods closer to home and leave a few chinese on the unemployment lines

The canal had a rebuild in 2015 by il Sisi .It was an Egyptian project and was completed in a year . So before you start disparaging the Egyptians consider they are not some backward country without the resources They financed the project not unlike Ausrtralia would do. The project allowed 2 way traffic in the canal for the 1st time ..... something the 'empire ' that built it did not consider necessary . As tal said . It was a freak accident .

As far as moving the supply chain home . Good luck with that .Or should I say ;that ship has sailed .
And how do you deal with what happened in December when a cargo ship lost almost 2,000 containers in the wide open Pacific ? That type of product lost is much more prevalent than this rare ship grounding .

I recall a number of times vendors telling me the shipment was "lost " without going into specifics . But it went something like this
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EoQgSYMWEAUASNb?format=jpg&name=900x900

Look I know Egypt has made improvements, afterall with $5 billion a year they need to put something back, as far as Egypt being a backward country, well I have been there and I didn't see anything to distinguish them from the rest of the ME, despite their money and they have plenty. You want to excuse them but ask yourself why was that ship escorted it is extremely large, pure incompetence

All 20/20 hindsight . We are seeing the same thought with the woke crowd . People of any era can look back and wonder how their predecessors can be so dimwitted and backward . We all see things that could've been done differently or better . BTW . If the US had planned the redesign of the Suez Canal ;we would still be in the environmental impact review stage for the next decade .

Yes we are all thankfull we are not in the US

The Panama Canal works pretty good and so did the Suez, until Mother Nature makes man look stupid. That happens all the time and to any society. Were the Aussies stupid and incompetent when they were on fire last year?

Well I would be the first to say some were, however as a nation we responded to the threat and many were saved. The same can be said of recent flooding and we were stupid not to raise the dam wall years ago and even more stupid to allow development on the flood plain. My point is governments are stupid, individuals are stupid becuase they respond to short term thinking

Australia is being hit with plagues that are close to biblical . Fires ,drought then floods ,mice pooing so much it takes six hours to clean up their waste. ,snakes, spiders .....all at the same time .

'Worst mice plague I've ever seen': Millions of rodents descend on eastern Australia (nbcnews.com) (https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/worst-mice-plague-ever-seen-millions-rodents-descend-eastern-australia-rcna513)

Spiders and snakes swarm Australian homes as they flee record flooding - CNN (https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/22/australia/spider-exodus-australia-scli-intl/index.html)

Australia Flooding Kills 2 as Waters Continue to Barrel Downstream | The Weather Channel - Articles from The Weather Channel | weather.com (https://weather.com/news/news/2021-03-25-australia-flooding-new-south-wales-queensland-rivers)

Australia floods: Saving a home from fires only to lose it in floods - BBC News (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-56479546)

It's that time of year Clete. Start spreading that lamb blood .

Hmmm time to put on the conspiracy hat again.

China and Iran sign a major economic deal reported yesterday...this right after a massive cargo ship runs aground in the Suez blocking Western access to ME oil .

Iran and China sign 25-year cooperation agreement | Reuters (https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-iran-china-idUSKBN2BJ0AY)

Iranian Ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, proposed activating a shipping line that passes through Iran as an alternative to the Suez Canal.

Iran proposes alternative shipping line to Suez Canal (aa.com.tr) (https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/iran-proposes-alternative-shipping-line-to-suez-canal/2190717)

​https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/North_South_Transport_Corridor_%28NSTC%29.jpg/290px-North_South_Transport_Corridor_%28NSTC%29.jpg

Australia is being hit with plagues that are close to biblical . Fires ,drought then floods ,mice pooing so much it takes six hours to clean up their waste. ,snakes, spiders .....all at the same time .

'Worst mice plague I've ever seen': Millions of rodents descend on eastern Australia (nbcnews.com) (https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/worst-mice-plague-ever-seen-millions-rodents-descend-eastern-australia-rcna513)

Spiders and snakes swarm Australian homes as they flee record flooding - CNN (https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/22/australia/spider-exodus-australia-scli-intl/index.html)

Australia Flooding Kills 2 as Waters Continue to Barrel Downstream | The Weather Channel - Articles from The Weather Channel | weather.com (https://weather.com/news/news/2021-03-25-australia-flooding-new-south-wales-queensland-rivers)

Australia floods: Saving a home from fires only to lose it in floods - BBC News (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-56479546)

It's that time of year Clete. Start spreading that lamb blood .


Tom, you may have noticed, this is a different land and the wild life responds to abundance, there is an abundance of water at the moment and so we have a mice plague, it is probably thirty years since the last one I remember it well, roads paved with mouse skins but we are all still here. Yes things happen here in biblical proportions, it is afterall the the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit, but very few lives are lost in these events so we learn to live with them. Fire is part of this land, water is part of this land, and with a season like this we will be overrun with kangaroos next but because of covid there are other things we will not be overrun with. The Chinese have tried their best to put a dint in our economy and succeeded in putting a dint in their own, we have survived a stop to international travel and shutdown of our cities but we are not covid ravaged like some so our blessings are also biblical. Suggest you try spreading the blood of the lamb in your own dear land

The Ever Given is ever giving, still stuck despite high tide, dredging, and tugs which makes me wonder why was a ship of this size allowed in the canal in the first place

Hmmm time to put on the conspiracy hat again.

China and Iran sign a major economic deal reported yesterday...this right after a massive cargo ship runs aground in the Suez blocking Western access to ME oil .

Iran and China sign 25-year cooperation agreement | Reuters (https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-iran-china-idUSKBN2BJ0AY)

Iranian Ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, proposed activating a shipping line that passes through Iran as an alternative to the Suez Canal.

Iran proposes alternative shipping line to Suez Canal (aa.com.tr) (https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/iran-proposes-alternative-shipping-line-to-suez-canal/2190717)

​https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/North_South_Transport_Corridor_%28NSTC%29.jpg/290px-North_South_Transport_Corridor_%28NSTC%29.jpg
has anyone pointed out there are some high mountains in the way of that route, might as well build a road

Not far but it has moved, good news for someone anyway

The wind beached it, the tide unbeached it. Man watched.

Iran thinks it is a viable route but besides mountains ;the route employs passage through the Artic Barents Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, East Siberian Sea, Chukchi Sea, and partially the Bering Sea in the Pacific Ocean.

What are you talking about, it is the Caspian route?


The wind beached it, the tide unbeached it. Man watched. Not entirely true

the tide unbeached it.Yep. That's not correct at all. If man had just "watched", the ship would still be blocking the canal.

https://scontent-atl3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/167689313_5527959747215994_3744841890608499266_n.j pg?_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=PIKO7XPXDhsAX9AysUH&_nc_ht=scontent-atl3-2.xx&oh=8b36bb574144ae8aa735b69efbc3c081&oe=608C1A2E

I sure thought the Suez Canal was bigger than that!! 8D

so did joe

https://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/live-breaking-news-suez-canal-blockers-insane-punishment/live-coverage/6eca0e992368075a0a164d47386382f7

the Ever Given has been seized by Egypt, apparently the Japanese owners don't think they should compensate Egypt in any way. the claim is $900 million so there she stays with $7 billion in goods which is a lesson to shippers, don't put your container on the biggest carrier. What price China's Belt and Road now, the alternative must be looking good

No doubt they'll eventually hash it out!

No they will make a hash of it while they smoke their hash

What price China's Belt and Road now, the alternative must be looking good lol maybe we should put freight on the back of the camel .

There is too much reliance on freight transportation by road already .

It was a freak accident . I don't know exactly the liability laws . Seems to me that Egypt is holding the ship and freight as hostage .

lol maybe we should put freight on the back of the camel .

There is too much reliance on freight transportation by road already .

It was a freak accident . I don't know exactly the liability laws . Seems to me that Egypt is holding the ship and freight as hostage .

no the ship was salvaged, there is a bill, no doubt subject to negotiation, this wouldn't be the first ship seized for costs, my own government has done the same when dealing with recaliciant owners

no the ship was salvaged, there is a bill, no doubt subject to negotiation, this wouldn't be the first ship seized for costs, my own government has done the same when dealing with recaliciant ownersThat does seem to make sense.

salvage aside ;Clete was trying to make the point that this is an example of why land transport of goods is a better option. I disagree ;especially when speaking of an alternative being the Belt and Road . The Silk Road was a sound idea during the days of Marco Polo ;and stayed that way until the Fall of Constantinople . Then the world realized that it needed a reliable movement of goods over the seas .

Well Tom I sure alternatives will be explored, the Polar route is an erstwhile option but this suggests we should stop building bigger and bigger ships and perhaps make them faster, meanwhile overland routes could be significantly upgraded

salvage aside ;Clete was trying to make the point that this is an example of why land transport of goods is a better optionLand transport would be far more expensive and likely subject to many more hinderances. Bigger and faster ships are a great idea.

Land transport would be far more expensive and likely subject to many more hinderances. Bigger and faster ships are a great idea. Until they get stuck in the canal, sunk in storms. Being bigger doesn't mean faster, in fact the biggest ships are slow ponderous beasts. If land transport is so expensive why are there fleets of huge trucks on the highways, Land transport has proven to be fast and relatively inexpensive, the only reason we still use ships is there are no bridges between continents and the infrastructure isn't up to the standard needed

Until they get stuck in the canal, sunk in storms. Which happens once every bazillion years.


Being bigger doesn't mean faster,Who said it did?


the only reason we still use ships is there are no bridges between continentsThat and the fact that it is FAR cheaper to ship by container ship.

if only container ships could go door to door

If only fedex delivery trucks could go across oceans.

If only fedex delivery trucks could go across oceans.

They have aircraft, they don't wait for slower transport

If land transport is so expensive why are there fleets of huge trucks on the highways, There are no canals between the goods and their final destination . Also passenger rail was always a fools dream . Freight by rail is under utilized . Still the only logical way to service a global market with goods is by sea. Over 70 % of the earth is covered by water .

If land transport is so expensive why are there fleets of huge trucks on the highways,Moving super large cargo loads by ship is the most economical means of shipping we have. The man who claimed to be a better economist than Trump should surely know that.

Moving super large cargo loads by ship is the most economical means of shipping we have. The man who claimed to be a better economist than Trump should surely know that.

It only works when there are no delays or disasters

It only works when there are no delays or disastersWhich, like I said earlier, occurs so infrequently that it's not worth considering. It is, by far, the least expensive means of shipping on the planet.

You do know that all this shipping from place to place is a flawed idea. One day, because of AGW or maybe just common sense, local manufacture will be more attractive. the cheapest form of shipping is a minimalist approach or not necessary. Now I know that this casts down the idea of a profitable multinational run by slaggarts in New York or Palm Springs or Mar-de-largo but

You do know that all this shipping from place to place is a flawed idea. One day, because of AGW or maybe just common sense, local manufacture will be more attractive. the cheapest form of shipping is a minimalist approach or not necessary.That's quite an idea.

Yes, just plain economic sense, and counter intuitive. Putting all your manufacturing in one place off shore is a recipe for disaster

Putting all your manufacturing in one place off shore is a recipe for disasterWe haven't reached that point yet or even come close to it, but I think you have a valid point in that strategic products such as computers need to be closely regulated as to place of manufacture.

I think many things need to be treated as strategic and the place of manufacture closely controlled

Capitalists don't believe in that kind of control, Clete, nor should they in my opinion. They should be flexible when stuff happens though as we all should. As a matter of course though location for manufacturing is generally condition based with a complex multitude of factors subject to a rather extensive cost benefit analysis and feasibility study.

Oh Please, tell me you don't have strategic industries

Of course we do. Private contractors supply many government agencies and functions, both from here and abroad. Just wondering what you were yammering about now.

China the low cost country with the high cost objectives