When the Suez Canal Got Blocked for Eight Years!
The Suez Canal is a critical economic PowerPoint in world Trade. Nations have fought for the control as its one of the busiest trade route since its completion in 1869. Suez Canal carries about 12% of World Trade in a year and 30% of world shipping container volume. The alternate route through the African tip would delay the journey by two weeks. Thus making the route undesirable for perishable goods, and the Piracy fears are real.
The world has taken a renewed interest in the Suez Canal as a shipping container got beached. The giant container ship, Ever Given, is about 400 metres long and weighs about 2,00,000 tonnes. It was on its way from China to Rotterdam. The ship’s front got wedged around 5metres into the canal wall on March 23 during a heavy dust storm. Dislodging such a ship gets even more challenging due to the congested nature of the canal. A study by the German insurer Allianz states that blocking the Suez Canal would cost $6 billion to $10 billion in global trade a week. Each week of blockage would affect about 0.2 to 0.4% in annual trade growth. The immediate effects are grimmer. A long line of ships are waiting at both ends of the canal. The supply chain disruptions would affect countries. Due to the ongoing lockdown situations in many countries due to the pandemic, things may get uglier. Crude oil price would rise due to the increased shipping costs factoring in the delay.
History shows that this is not the first time canal had ships stuck. The longest one lasted for about eight years between 1967 and 1975, with 14 ships stranded on the water. The Six-day war broke out between Israel and Egypt while the ships were crossing the canal. Though the war lasted only for days, the ships would remain in the canal for six years as the political and geographical conditions changed. The fleet of ships came to be known as “The Yellow Fleet” due to the years of desert dust accumulated. At the end of the six-day war, Israel won control of the East Bank of the Canal, and Egypt retained the West Bank. Egypt blocked both ends of the canal with debris, old vessels and mines. Ships were not able to sail out. Though the original crew was allowed to go home in three months, companies owning the ships send in teams to guard the ships and goods. Crew members of different ships came together to form an international community known as the “Great Bitter Lake Association”. All through eight years, the ships were stationed at the broadest part of the canal known as Great Bitter Lake. In 1973, another war broke out between Israel and Egypt and a ceasefire agreement was reached. International pressure started to mount on the Egyptian Govt. In 1975, they decided to open the canal and started clearing the debris from the canal. It took two years to complete. On June 5, 1975, the Suez Canal reopened.
