Ship Causes Traffic Jam at Suez Canal
The cargo ship stuck in the Suez Canal for days has been freed and is finally afloat.
A container ship called the ‘Ever Given’ is owned by a Taiwanese transport company. The ship was on its way to Rotterdam in the Netherlands from China. The ship is 400-m long and 59-m wide. When the ship was at the Suez Canal, Egypt because of a sandstorm there was low visibility and the ship got stuck in the shallow mud. When the ship got stuck it blocked the canal and no other ship could pass. Because of this there many other ships were stuck which led to a traffic jam. This news went viral. Officials had said that it could take weeks for them to move the ship.
The Suez Canal in Egypt is a very narrow waterway that connects Asia & Africa. This route is very important and everyday thousands of ships pass through it. Since the canal was blocked, many ships were stuck. There is an alternative route around the african continent but it would take 2 weeks longer. Many ships suffered a loss of millions of dollars because of the traffic jams. Many of the ships were carrying oil and some were even carrying live animals and they were stuck in the water.The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) were trying very hard to move the ship. An image of a small digger trying to move the ship went viral on social media. People made fun of how a small digger could move such a big ship. But finally after 4 days the ship was moved and other ships can now pass.
