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The Ever Given was afloat as of 09H00 EDT on Monday 29th after blocking the Suez Canal for almost seven days. Dutch salvage experts led the operation that required removal of vast quantities of sand at the bow and stern to free the vessel. The stern was freed on Sunday afternoon local time and tugs were able to pull the imbedded bow from the West bank of the canal on the rising spring tide.
When she grounded at 07h40, Eastern European time on March 23rd the ship was en route from Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia to Rotterdam. The apparent cause was a loss of steering ability in high winds although a subsequent marine investigation will probably reveal a number of contributory factors including human error and inappropriate assessment of risk with an impending storm. Since the Ever Given was beached at both ends, it was necessary to exercise care in refloating to avoid damage to the structure due to unequal distribution of weight. If the vessel were to have capsized or listed heavily, containers would have been dumped into the canal. In an extreme case, the canal might have been blocked for an extensive period.
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Ever Given Afloat in Suez Canal |
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For the record, the Ever Given has a 220,940 gross tonnage and is 1,312 feet in length with a beam of 192 feet and draws 47 foot of water. The vessel is powered by an 11-cylinder two-stroke diesel engine rate at 79,500 horsepower driving a single fixed-pitch propeller. For maneuvering Ever Given has two 3,400 horsepower bow thrusters. The Ever Given is one of thirteen container ships built to the Imabari 20,000-container design in Japan and commissioned in 2018. In February 2019, the vessel collided with a ferry near the harbor of Hamburg in heavy wind.
 Failure to expeditiously refloat the Ever Given would have forced up to 300 waiting vessels to circumnavigate the Cape of Good Hope adding 14 days to a route from South East Asian ports to Europe. This would have had repercussions on grain and oil prices.
Before the Ever Given grounding freight rates were rising. The Baltic Exchange Dry Index that determines shipping costs according to type and size of vessel increased from 1,390 on January 4th to 2178 on March 26th. Although, for the week, the index fell four percent, it is expected that rates for vessels of a size that would transit the Suez Canal will continue to rise, as it will take at least 10 days to clear the backlog of waiting vessels.
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