Container ship runs aground in Suez Canal causing traffic jam

[SeaPasser]

Seven tug boats have come to the aid of a container ship that ran aground in the Suez Canal on Tuesday and blocked other vessels from transiting one of the world's most important waterways.

 

Shiptracking data on Refinitiv Eikon showed the tug boats surrounding the Rotterdam-bound vessel, which appeared in the tracking maps to still be grounded.

 

The 200,000-tonne vessel enroute from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean ran aground at about 7:40 a.m. (05:40 GMT) on Tuesday after the ship suffered a blackout, port agents GAC said on its website.

 

GAC said 15 other ships in the northbound convoy behind the vessel were detained at anchorages waiting for the canal to be cleared. A southbound convoy was also blocked, it said.

 

The container ship, the Ever Given, is 400 meters long (1,312 feet), 59 meters wide (193 feet), and can carry up to 20,000 20-foot equivalent (TEU) shipping containers.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/24/middleeast/suez-canal-container-ship-intl-hnk/index.html

 

 Why didn't this happen while we were going through the Suez Canal!! We could have had a longer cruise! 🙁 

[John Bull]

Initial reports blamed the incident on a strong gust of wind.

Reports now say it was a loss of power, which affected the steering.

I suspect it was actually because the pilot was texting on his phone instead of watching where he was going. 😉

 

JB 🙂

Edited March 26, 2021 by John Bull

[John Bull]

Ship now freed, using age-old remedy

 

 

JB 🙂