Massive Cargo Ship Turns Sideways, Totally Blocks Suez Canal

martyb writes:

(NB: Follow real-time graphical updates by zooming in at https://www.vesselfinder.com/?imo=9811000

Grounded 'Mega Ship' Blocking Suez Canal in Both Directions:

An ultra-large containership is aground and blocking ship traffic in the Suez Canal.

AIS[*] data shows the MV Ever Given is stuck sideways towards the south end of the canal near Suez, Egypt, preventing ships from passing in either direction. Several tugs have been on scene for several hours working to dislodge the ship.

Shipping agent GAC reports that the grounding occurred at 7:40 a.m. local time on Tuesday (March 23) at kilometer 151 after the vessel suffered a black out while transiting.

It seems the Ever Given had just begun its transit of the waterway as part of a northbound convoy when the incident occurred.

The 199,489 GT ship was fifth in the northbound convoy. None of the vessels before it were affected, but the 15 behind it were detained at anchorages waiting for the Canal to be cleared. The southbound convoy was also blocked," GAC reported.

At 400-meters-long and a little over 20,000 TEU capacity, the Panama-registered MV Ever Given is among the largest of so-called mega ships", aka ultra-large container vessels (ULCVs), currently in operation.

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