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How Suez Canal traffic resumed after the Ever Given grounding
The Ever Given blocked the Suez Canal from 23 to 29 March 2021. The canal authority said 422 waiting ships passed through in under four days after refloating.
Sources checked
- 23 March 2021The Ever Given grounding began the blockage.
- 26 March 2021The canal authority reported that dislodging efforts continued.
- 29 March 2021The authority reported refloating. The canal reopened in both directions after successful refloating.
- 31 March 2021The authority reported full-capacity, around-the-clock operation.
- Within four days of refloatingThe authority says it cleared 422 waiting ships at more than 100 passages a day.
The canal could reopen before the waiting queue was cleared.
The blockage ran from 23 to 29 March
UN Trade and Development dates the closure to 23 through 29 March. On 26 March the Suez Canal Authority said efforts to dislodge the container ship were still in progress. The authority’s April review described the labour and equipment it used, including nearly 600 of its workers, two dredgers and 15 tugboats. Source 1 Source 2 Source 6
The early refloating update tracked movement
On 29 March the authority reported that the stern had moved from four metres to 102 metres from the canal bank. That update still described work to align the ship and take it to the Bitter Lakes waiting area for inspection. The 31 March statement reported that navigation had returned in both directions following the successful refloating. Source 3 Source 4
The reopening and the queue are different milestones
Restoring two-way passage brought the waterway back into service. The authority later said it handled 422 vessels waiting at the northern and southern entrances in under four days, at more than 100 transits a day. That count describes vessels waiting for passage, rather than the capacity of the vessel that grounded. Source 4 Source 5
Why a short closure matters to scheduled traffic
UN Trade and Development used the event to illustrate disruption at a maritime link with limited capacity. The incident concentrated delayed voyages into the days after reopening. The timeline therefore reports the operating status separately from the pace at which the canal handled ships already waiting. Source 1 Source 5
Sources
- UN Trade and Development Review of Maritime Transport 2021
- Suez Canal Authority grounding update on 26 March 2021
- Suez Canal Authority refloating report on 29 March 2021
- Suez Canal Authority restoration of navigation on 31 March 2021
- Suez Canal Authority October 2021 statement on clearance of waiting vessels
- Suez Canal Authority 7 April 2021 operational review