The Suez Canal in Egypt has been blockaded by a gigantic container ship, which is as long as the height of the Empire State Building. In other words, it is 400 meters long. The ship got stuck in the canal, after a sandstorm hit and made it hard to see. It is 224,000 tons, is from Panama, was going to the city Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and then got blown off of the course. There are currently 8 boats trying to free the ship, which is named “the Ever Given.”
Many other ships that have oil onboard are waiting for the ship to be freed. About 30% of container ships go through the Suez Canal per day, because it is a shortcut. Going around Africa is an alternative option, but takes a week longer. In 2020, around 51 ships per day, or almost 19,000 ships throughout the year, went through the Canal. The world’s largest shipping container business, Maersk, has said that 3 of its ships are waiting to enter the Canal, and 4 of them are stuck in the Canal.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/
