Monday, March 23, 2026

Five Years Ago Today The Ever Given Blocked The Suez Canal

From Dredging Today, March 23:

From Ever Given to Hormuz: Spotlight on strategic importance of maritime chokepoints

As the Middle East conflict throttles global trade via the Strait of Hormuz, five years ago a stranded cargo ship revealed a frail transport system. On this day, the 400m-long Ever Given ran aground in the Suez Canal, Egypt, completely blocking the waterway for six days. 

The 20,000 TEU vessel was buffeted by strong winds on the morning of 23 March, and ended up wedged across the waterway with its bow and stern stuck on opposite canal banks, blocking all traffic and creating one of the most dramatic disruptions in modern shipping history.

The incident halted roughly 12% of global trade, costing the Egyptian economy millions in daily revenue.

Salvage teams from multiple countries worked around the clock to refloat the vessel, employing dredgers, tugboats and careful maneuvering. Dredgers were brought in and dug 30,000 cubic meters of mud and sand from beneath the ends of the ship....

....MUCH MORE 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/Container_Ship_%27Ever_Given%27_stuck_in_the_Suez_Canal%2C_Egypt_-_March_24th%2C_2021_cropped.jpg/960px-Container_Ship_%27Ever_Given%27_stuck_in_the_Suez_Canal%2C_Egypt_-_March_24th%2C_2021_cropped.jpg 

Via Wikipedia 

And via one of our contemporaneous posts