Suez Canal to be closed temporarily as ship remains stuck
The Suez Canal will be temporarily closed until a massive container ship jammed across the international trade route is refloated, the chairman of the waterway’s state-owned management company said on Thursday.
The Ever Given ran aground in a sandstorm and high winds on Tuesday, choking traffic in both directions along the Suez Canal and creating the world’s largest shipping jam.
Lloyd’s List insurers estimated that the closuring of the canal is costing about $400 million an hour with westbound traffic worth around $5.1 billion a day and eastbound traffic carrying around $4.5bn a day.
Shipping experts say that if the blockage is not cleared within the next 24-48 hours, some shipping companies may be forced to reroute vessels around the southern tip of Africa, which would add about a week to the journey.
