Ever Given Refloated & Being Towed
Thankfully, the Ever Given has now been refloated and is being towed North to safety. The area of the canal where the vessel was grounded will be inspected and then we should see it open once more.
Almost 400 ships are believed to be queued and the backlog is expected to take up to 4 days to clear.
There is likely to be major disruption to Asia ocean freight during the next few weeks, which will include at least some of the below issues.
- Existing delays on vessel’s caught up in the blockage – east and westbound.
- Slow passage through the canal due to congestion of almost 400 ships queued.
- Delays as some vessels have already committed to journeys around Africa – transits are usually 9-10 days longer.
- Delays unloading vessels as many arrivals in a short space of time.
- More congestion pressure on ports and container transport.
- Potential for vessels to be redirected and omit scheduled ports.
- Further container equipment shortages in Asia, as hundreds of thousands of containers have remained static on ships during this time.
- Longer term impact on schedules, as many vessels are now out of position and this could result in further blanked sailings.
- Short term spot rate increases.
- Potential for further surcharges.
We do not have any specific information on which vessels will pass the canal when, but expect to be more informed about arrival times during the course of the next 2-3 days.
