- A Titanic Disparity in How the World Responds to Maritime Disasters Democracy Now!
- Titan sub, Greek migrant boat: Response criticized as disproportionate USA TODAY
- The Missing Titanic Sub Is Already a Culture War Battlefield The Daily Beast
- Letters to the editor: ‘We seem to have developed a caste system for those who will be saved and those who are expendable.’ The race to find the Titanic submersible, plus other letters to the editor for June 22 The Globe and Mail
- As Titanic ‘sub’ dominates headlines, coverage of sinking migrant boat in Greece falls short MassLive.com
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: Maritime
Two Koreas exchange warning shots near maritime border amid tensions
SEOUL, Oct 24 (Reuters) – North and South Korea exchanged warning shots off the west coast on Monday, accusing each other of breaching their western maritime border amid heightened military tension.
The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it broadcast warnings and fired warning shots to see off a North Korean merchant vessel that crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto sea boundary, at around 3:40 a.m. (1840 GMT Sunday).
The North’s military said it fired 10 artillery shells after a South Korean navy ship violated the NLL and fired warning shots “on the pretext of tracking down an unidentified ship,” according to state media.
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“We ordered initial countermeasures to strongly expel the enemy warship by firing 10 shells of multiple rocket launchers near the waters where the enemy movement occurred,” a spokesperson for the General Staff of the North’s Korean People’s Army said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.
The JCS said it had conducted a “normal operation” over the border intrusion, and called the North’s move a “provocation” and a violation of a 2018 bilateral military pact banning “hostile acts” in the border areas.
“We once again urge North Korea to immediately cease consistent provocations and accusations which harm the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula as well as the international community,” the JCS said in a statement.
The latest exchange of fire came amid simmering tension, with the North carrying out weapons tests at an unprecedented pace this year.
In recent weeks, North Korea launched short-range ballistic missiles and hundreds of artillery rounds off its east and west coasts on several occasions in protest over the South’s military activities.
South Korea’s troops kicked off their annual Hoguk defence drills last week, designed to run until Oct. 28 and boost their own and combined ability with the United States to counter the North’s nuclear and missile threats.
Pyongyang has angrily reacted to the drills, calling them provocations and threatening countermeasures. Seoul and Washington say their exercises are defensive and aimed at deterring the North.
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Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi and Hyonhee Shin; editing by Diane Craft and Stephen Coates
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Israel and Lebanon reach historic agreement, settling a years-long maritime border dispute
CNN
—
Israel and Lebanon have reached a historic agreement, leaders on each side said separately on Tuesday, settling a years-long maritime border dispute involving major oil and gas fields in the Mediterranean.
The United States has been trying to broker a deal between the neighboring countries over the 860-square-kilometer (332-square-mile) area of the sea that has been under dispute for years.
It includes the Karish oil and gas field and a region known as the Qanaa prospect, which are expected to fall into Israeli and Lebanese waters respectively under the deal. Israel has said it would begin extracting oil and gas from Karish and exporting it to Europe imminently.
“The final version of the offer is satisfactory to Lebanon and meets its demands and preserved Lebanon’s rights of this natural wealth,” Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun said in a statement hours after receiving Israel’s final offer through US mediator Amos Hochstein.
Aoun said he hopes the agreement, which is yet to be signed, will be announced “as soon as possible.”
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said: “This is an historic achievement that will strengthen Israel’s security, inject billions into Israel’s economy, and ensure the stability of our northern border.”
The draft agreement meets all the security and economic principles laid out by Israel, Lapid said.
The Israeli prime minister will convene the security cabinet on Wednesday followed by a special meeting of the government, he said.
Lebanese officials have said the deal does not mean any “treaty” will be signed with Israel and this agreement is not a step toward normalization of relations between the two countries, which are technically at war.
Earlier Tuesday, Lebanese negotiator and deputy parliament speaker Elias Bou Saab told CNN that “Lebanon felt that [the deal] takes into consideration all of Lebanon’s requirements and we believe the other side should feel the same.”
Meanwhile, Israeli chief negotiator Eyal Hulata said: “All our demands were met, the changes that we asked for were corrected. We protected Israel’s security interests and are on our way to an historic agreement.”
On Tuesday, Lebanese Energy Minister Walid Fayyad also said the French energy company Total, which owns the contract to explore Lebanese waters, would start working on the Qanaa prospect “immediately.”
Talks gained momentum after London-based oil and gas exploration company Energean arrived in June to begin development of the Karish field on Israel’s behalf. Although the Energean ship is well south of the disputed area, part of the field is in an area Lebanon had claimed.
Hezbollah, the powerful Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite milita, had threatened Energean’s gas rig if they started producing gas before a deal had been struck.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah declined to comment when contacted by CNN, but the Iran-backed armed group has previously said it would abide by any agreement signed by the Lebanese government.
The historic agreement does not affect land borders, but it is likely to ease security and economic tensions for both nations.
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Thursday that an agreement “will circumvent us from a definite war in the region.”
Lebanon, Israel agree maritime border deal, Israel says
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Lebanon and Israel have reached a historic agreement demarcarting a disputed maritime border between them, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said on Tuesday.
While limited in scope, a deal would mark a significant compromise between states with a history of war, opening the way for offshore energy exploration and easing a source of recent tensions between states.
“This is a historic achievement that will strengthen Israel’s security, inject billions into Israel’s economy, and ensure the stability of our northern border,” Lapid said in a statement.
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Lebanese President Michel said earlier that the terms of the final draft received from U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein satisfied Lebanon and he hoped the deal would be announced as soon as possible, the presidency said in a statement seen by Reuters.
Israeli National Security Advisor Eyal Hulata earlier also gave a positive assessment:
“All our demands were met, the changes that we asked for were corrected. We protected Israel’s security interests and are on our way to an historic agreement,” he said in a statement.
Hochstein has been shuttling between the sides which have no diplomatic relations.
The heavily armed, Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah has not commented on details of proposals throughout the indirect negotiations, but has said it would agree to the Lebanese government’s position.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, whose group has fought numerous wars with Israel, has also repeatedly warned of an escalation if the deal does not secure Lebanon’s maritime rights. Nasrallah is due to make a address later on Tuesday.
Earlier, Lebanese negotiator Elias Bou Saab told Reuters that if everything went well, Hochstein’s “efforts could imminently lead to a historic deal”.
Lebanon felt the latest draft “takes into consideration all of Lebanon’s requirements and we believe that the other side should feel the same”, he said.
While Israel has moved ahead with production and export, Lebanon’s efforts have been hamstrung by political dysfunction.
A gas find would be a major boon for Lebanon, which has been mired in financial crisis since 2019. Eventually, such a discovery could fix Lebanon’s long-standing failure to produce adequate electricity for its population.
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Reporting by Timour Azhari and Laila Bassam in Beirut; Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Writing by Timour Azhari/Tom Perry and Maayan Lubell; Editing by Leslie Adler, Chris Reese, Raju Gopalakrishnan, Philippa Fletcher
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Iranian Navy seized 2 US Navy maritime drones on Thursday
The drones were eventually released, but a US defense official says the incident looks like an escalation of Iranian hostile actions against the United States.
Earlier this week, a similar incident occurred in the Persian Gulf. “The fact that this happened two days after their unsuccessful attempt in the Arabian (Persian) Gulf looks to be an escalation,” the official said
The incident began Thursday, the official said, when the Iranian Navy ship was observed taking two US drones out of the water “in an attempt to steal them,” according to the official. The US then quickly moved in with two nearby destroyers as well as a helicopter and communicated by radio to demand the drones be returned.
The Iranians agreed, but asked to wait until daylight on Friday for safety reasons which the US agreed to, the official said.
Iranian state television broadcasted video showing the drones being pushed back into the water from the deck of the Iranian warship.
Iran’s state TV said the Iranian Navy seized the drones while carrying out an anti-terrorism mission in the Red Sea. “The destroyer Jamaran seized two vessels on Thursday to prevent any possible accident … the two vessels were released after international shipping lanes were secured and a warning was issued to the US fleet,” state TV said.
The incidents come at a sensitive time with negotiations over a revived nuclear agreement appearing to falter. On Thursday, the US State Department said Tehran’s latest reply to a European Union proposal to resurrect the deal was “not constructive.”
The US official noted that unprofessional interactions with the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy are rare. When other unprofessional incidents have occurred, they have typically involved Iranian Revolutionary Guard naval ships (IRGC), not the regular Iranian Navy.
IRGC ships and small boats have had multiple unprofessional interactions with the US Navy in recent years.
Earlier this week, the US Navy prevented an Iranian ship from capturing an American maritime drone in the Persian Gulf in what a senior US commander called a “flagrant” and “unwarranted” incident.
While US forces in the region were transiting international waters Monday, they saw an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy support ship, Shahid Baziar, towing a US-operated maritime drone, also known as a Saildrone Explorer unmanned surface vessel.
A US Navy patrol coastal ship, USS Thunderbolt, was “operating nearby and immediately responded,” the Navy said. After the Iranians attached a line to the maritime drone, US forces in the area communicated directly with the Iranians to say they wanted the drone back, and the Iranians eventually disconnected the tow line.
The US is increasingly using commercially available drones that it leases to carry out maritime surveillance. The official said because it involves commercial technology, there is currently no concern Iran has gained access to classified technology.
Inside a U.S. Navy Maritime Drone Operation Aimed at Iran
MANAMA, Bahrain—The U.S. Navy is working with Israel, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern nations to build a network of unmanned drones as it seeks to constrain Iran’s military in the region—a program the Pentagon hopes will be a model for operations around the world.
A ship operated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attempted to seize an American maritime drone—equipped with cameras, radar and other sensors—but abandoned that effort on Tuesday when a U.S. warship and helicopter approached, U.S. officials said.
U.S. officers declined to disclose the number of aerial and maritime drones deployed by the U.S. and its allies or to give details about where and how they are used, saying that information is classified. But they said the unmanned vessels and aircraft are giving them better visibility over the region’s waters.
The U.S Navy is working with Middle East nations to build a network of unmanned maritime drones.
Photo:
U.S. NAVY
By next summer, the Navy said, it expects to have 100 small surveillance drones—contributed by various countries—operating from the Suez Canal in Egypt to waters off the Iranian coast and feeding information to a command center in Bahrain, headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet.
“I think we are truly on the cusp of an unmanned technological revolution,” said Capt. Michael Brasseur, who heads the U.S. Navy task force working to build the drone fleet in the Middle East.
The drone initiative, now in its sixth month, is part of a burgeoning cooperative relationship among the U.S., Israel and Gulf nations following the Abraham Accords. It mirrors another U.S.-led effort to unite Israel and its Gulf neighbors to create a regional air-defense network.
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From the Robotic Operation Center here in Manama, U.S. Navy personnel and private contractors monitor the drones’ progress. Video screens display blinking red alerts when the drones identify “dark targets” or suspected threats.
The drones—some of which can float at sea for up to six months—can send back detailed images and other data. Analysts review the images and try to determine what they show.
Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander spearheading the effort, said the fleet has proven its value by detecting activity such as a Chinese naval ship moving through the area, suspicious ship-to-ship transfers and vessels using electronic trackers to disguise their identities.
“We’ve been able to detect activity that we simply did not know was previously happening,” he said.
A handout picture from the Iranian Army in July showing a military drone launched from an Iranian navy submarine.
Photo:
Iranian Army office/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
The Israeli-linked tanker Mercer Street was struck by a drone off the coast of Iran in August 2021.
Photo:
karim sahib/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
The drones now being tested are unarmed. But defense analysts expect the Navy to move toward equipping some with weapons in the future—something that would likely prompt intense debate.
U.S. lawmakers have raised concerns about Navy plans to build larger unmanned ships, a program that could cost billions of dollars. And the military still has to determine how to make use of smaller drones, protect them from attack and act on the information they transmit.
The U.S. drone operations come as there is mounting concern about Iran’s expanding influence in one of the world’s most important economic thoroughfares. Tehran has deployed ships and submarines equipped with aerial drones and has warned it is prepared to use them.
“If the enemies make a mistake, these drones will present them with a regrettable response,”
Abdolrahim Mousavi,
an Iranian army commander, told reporters during a recent visit by President Biden to the region.
An M5D-Airfox drone launched during a multinational training event in the Middle East in February.
Photo:
U.S. NAVY
The U.S. accused Iran of using drones to target an Israeli-affiliated merchant tanker off the coast of Iran last year in an attack that killed two crew members. Iran said it didn’t carry out the strike.
In July, Israeli Defense Minister
Benny Gantz
said Iran’s forces were “a direct threat to international trade, energy supply and the global economy.”
According to people familiar with the operations, Israel last year struck an Iranian cargo ship suspected of spying in the Red Sea. The explosion crippled the ship and Iran sent a replacement.
Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, center, at a briefing about unmanned aerial vehicles in Bahrain in January.
Photo:
U.S. NAVY
When an Iranian ship was discovered Tuesday towing one of the U.S. Navy’s 23-foot Saildrones that was conducting surveillance in the central Persian Gulf, U.S. forces warned the vessel that the drone was U.S. property. The Iranians dropped the tow line and eventually left the area, they said.
On Wednesday, the IRGC Navy called the U.S. military’s version of the incident “ridiculous,” according to Iranian state television. The IRGC said it took control of the U.S. vessel to prevent “unsafe sailing” and decided to release it after warning the U.S. Navy to not let such “illegal behavior” happen again.
Earlier this year, the U.S. created a new military task force to focus on the Red Sea. Israel, which established diplomatic relations with Bahrain in 2020 as part of the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords, has, for the first time, a military adviser working out of the Fifth Fleet headquarters in Manama.
The U.S. Navy is testing a range of unmanned craft, including one that looks like a speedboat and can reach speeds of nearly 90 miles an hour. It is also working with Predator-style aerial drones and the Saildrone, which can stay at sea for six months.
The true test of the drones will be whether they provide intelligence that leads to action—such as the seizure of contraband cargo.
“Just watching alone might limit Iran’s behavior,” said Stacie Pettyjohn, director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security. “But if they realize that they are not going to follow through and do anything, it may not be much of a deterrent.”
The Saildrone can stay at sea for up to six months.
Photo:
U.S. NAVY
Write to Dion Nissenbaum at dion.nissenbaum@wsj.com
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US Navy prevents Iranian attempt to capture American maritime drone in Arabian Gulf
While US forces in the region were transiting international waters around 11 p.m. Monday, they saw an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy support ship, Shahid Baziar, towing a US-operated maritime drone, also known as a Saildrone Explorer unmanned surface vessel, US Naval Forces Central Command said in a news release.
A US Navy patrol coastal ship, USS Thunderbolt, was “operating nearby and immediately responded,” the Navy said. After the Iranians attached a line to the maritime drone, US forces in the area communicated directly with the Iranians to say they wanted the drone back, a US defense official said.
The US Navy patrol boat then moved closer to the maritime drone, and US 5th Fleet launched an MH-60S Sea Hawk Helicopter from Bahrain and positioned moved it above the drone, the release and a US defense official said.
After the US responded with both the coastal ship and Sea Hawk helicopter, the Iranian vessel disconnected the towing line from the US drone and departed the area four hours later, the release said.
The US Navy then resumed operations “without incident,” the release added.
The incident comes at a critical time in relations between Iran and the US. Negotiations to revive the Iran nuclear deal are at a sensitive stage and US officials had voiced some optimism around the latest efforts. However, they have stressed that gaps remain between the two sides.
Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of US Naval Forces Central Command, US 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces, called the IRGCN’s actions “flagrant, unwarranted and inconsistent with the behavior of a professional maritime force,” in a statement about the incident.
“U.S. naval forces remain vigilant and will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows while promoting rules-based international order throughout the region,” Cooper said in the statement.
Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, Commander of US Central Command which oversees the US military presence in the Middle East, reacted strongly, saying Iran’s actions were illegal.
“The professionalism and competence of the crew of the USS Thunderbolt prevented Iran from this illegal action,” Kurilla said in a statement. “This incident once again demonstrates Iran’s continued destabilizing, illegal, and unprofessional activity in the Middle East.”
The maritime drone that the IRGCN attempted to take is “US government property and equipped with sensors, radars and cameras for navigation and data collection,” the release said. The drone “does not store sensitive or classified information,” the release added.
Israel pushes for UNSC condemnation of Iranian maritime terrorism
Israel is pushing for a United Nations Security Council condemnation against Tehran for Friday’s attack on an Israeli-managed petroleum products tanker attacked off the coast of Oman, which it believes was carried out by Iranian drones.
The Romanian captain of the ship, called Mercer Street, and a British crew member were killed in the attack. They are the first causalities in the ongoing maritime violence between Iran and Israel.
According to a diplomatic source, Israel is “working with other countries, especially Britain and the United States, and more to advance the Security Council’s discussion on this serious terrorist act by Iran that joins its other actions that call into question and endanger all maritime security and free trade.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations Gilad Erdan intends to send an official letter of complaint to the UNSC to request a meeting and the issuance of a condemnation.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has instructed the embassies in London, Washington and New York to discuss the need for a diplomatic response with the relevant parties in the British and American governments as well as at the UN.
Israel is underscoring the message that Iran poses a danger to world peace and this attack violates navigational freedom and is a threat to international trade.
Lapid has spoken with his British, Romanian and US counterparts, but none of those countries have clearly fingered Iran.
After his conversation Saturday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Lapid tweeted the following. “We are working together against Iranian terrorism, which poses a threat to all of us, by formulating a real and effective international response.”
“Iran has time and again underestimated Israel’s determination to defend itself and its interests,” Lapid wrote.
“Foreign Ministry officials are working in all the relevant arenas to promote international condemnation and response,” he wrote.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Blinken and Lapid had “agreed to work with the UK, Romania, and other international partners to investigate the facts, provide support, and consider the appropriate next steps.”
U.S. and European sources familiar with intelligence reporting said on Friday that Iran was their leading suspect for the incident.
According to a senior Israeli official, the attack – which took place just days before the swearing-in of Iran’s new hardline president Ebrahim Raisi – shows “the masks are coming off and no one can pretend they don’t know the character of the Iranian regime.
“Iran isn’t just Israel’s problem, it is a global problem, and its behavior endangers free global shipping and trade. Our campaign against them will continue.
“This is an Iranian terror attack that killed two innocent men, harming international shipping,” the official continued, adding that “Iran is sowing violence and destruction in every corner of the region. Out of their eagerness to attack an Israeli target, they embroiled themselves and incriminated themselves in the killing of foreign citizens.”
Defense Minister Benny Gantz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi spoke on the phone following the strike, which is being treated as a severe terror attack.
Mercer Street, is a Liberian-flagged, Japanese-owned vessel managed by Israeli-owned Zodiac Maritime. The company said on Friday the vessel was sailing under the control of its crew and own power to a safe location with a U.S. naval escort. That escort was the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
“U.S. Navy explosives experts are aboard to ensure there is no additional danger to the crew, and are prepared to support an investigation into the attack,” said Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia.
“Initial indications clearly point to a UAV-style (drone) attack,” it added.
IAl Alam TV, the Iranian government’s Arabic-language television network, cited unnamed sources as saying the attack on the ship came in response to a suspected, unspecified Israeli attack on Dabaa airport in Syria.
Iran and Israel have traded accusations of attacking each other’s vessels in recent months.
Tensions have risen in the Gulf region since the United States reimposed sanctions on Iraan in 2018 after then-President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with major powers.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which provides maritime security information, said the vessel was about 152 nautical miles (280 km) northeast of the Omani port of Duqm when it was attacked.
According to Refinitiv ship tracking, the medium-size tanker was headed for Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
Anna Ahronheim and Reuters contributed to this report.
Deadly drone attack on tanker escalates Iran-Israel maritime tensions
Two crewmembers, a Briton and a Romanian, died on Thursday when the Mercer Street tanker was attacked by an armed drone believed to be operated by Iran off the coast of Oman.
While Israel and the US are blaming Iran for the attack, Iranian state media has said the incident was in retaliation for an airstrike on a military airport in Syria that it accused Israel of being behind.
The Syrian regime is backed by Iranian forces. No Iranian official has commented on the attack and CNN has reached out to Iran’s foreign ministry for comment.
The vessel was traveling from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to Fujariah in the United Arab Emirates with no cargo onboard, the ship’s management firm said.
It is reportedly sailing under a Liberian flag, according to the maritime tracking website Marine Traffic. The ship is Japanese-owned and managed by Zodiac Maritime, an international management company headquartered in London and led by Israeli shipping magnate Eyal Ofer.
Zodiac also confirmed Friday that the tanker was under its own power and moving to a safe location with a US naval escort. US officials have not said which port the vessel will go to.
A security official with knowledge of the preliminary investigation said the crew reported hearing drone noises followed by explosions, and eruptions in the water. The boat then went radio silent.
The boat’s driver and a security detail then remained on the bridge to pilot the vessel, and were hit in the attack, they added. The dead Briton was a member of the security personnel, the official said.
A US defense official familiar with the details of the incident said Friday that the tanker was attacked by an armed drone thought to be operated by Iran.
Another official said the US responded “to an emergency distress call of an apparent UAV style attack,” and that the ship was escorted to port by the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and the USS Mitscher destroyer.
The tanker’s crew reported that the drone exploded into its super structure on Thursday, the first US official said. They also reported an unsuccessful attempted drone attack earlier in the day but said that drone fell into the water.
The US military has long noted Iran has drones that operate by flying into targets and exploding on impact.
An official source at Oman’s Maritime Security Center told Oman News Agency on Friday that the incident happened outside Omani waters, the agency said.
Oman sent jets and a Navy ship to the location of the attack, and Omani officials say they were told by the ship and its crew it would continue sailing without the need for assistance, the agency reported.
Deep concerns
This incident comes amid heightened tensions between Israel and Iran and follows a series of attacks on tankers in the Gulf of Oman in recent years, which the US has blamed on Iran.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said that the world needs to stand up to Iran after the incident.
“Iran isn’t only an Israeli problem but an exporter of terror, destruction and instability which harms the entire world. We must never remain silent in the face of Iranian terrorism, which also harms freedom of navigation,” Lapid said in a statement on Twitter.
Lapid added that he had told his British counterpart, Dominic Raab, that the attack on the ship needed a strong response.
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was “deeply concerned” by the incident off the coast of Oman, in a statement on Twitter.
“Our thoughts are with the loved ones of the British and Romanian nationals killed in the incident,” the statement said. “Vessels must be allowed to navigate freely in accordance with international law,” it added.
Ambrey, the maritime security company that employed the UK crewman killed in the attack, also said in a statement that it was “currently working closely with our client and the relevant authorities, whilst offering all the support possible to the victim’s next of kin.
“Our thoughts are with the family and friends of those involved at this incredibly sad time.”
CNN’s Andrew Carey and Amir Tal contributed to this report.
Cargo ship blocking Suez Canal has been refloated: Maritime firm Inchcape
A handout picture released by the Suez Canal Authority on March 24, 2021 shows a part of the Taiwan-owned MV Ever Given (Evergreen), a 400-metre- (1,300-foot-) long and 59-metre wide vessel, lodged sideways and impeding all traffic across the waterway of Egypt’s Suez Canal.
Suez Canal Authority | AFP | Getty Images
The giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal was refloated on Monday and is being secured, maritime services company Inchcape said in a Twitter post.
But it remains unclear what the condition of the stranded ship is and when the canal would be open to traffic, with Inchcape saying that “more information will follow once they are known.”
Efforts to free the mega vessel, known as the Ever Given, have lasted for nearly a week. The ship became stuck last Tuesday after running aground while entering the Suez canal from the Red Sea.
Ever Given is one of the largest container ships in the world. It is a 220,000-ton mega ship nearly a quarter-mile long with a 20,000 container capacity.
The ship completely blocked the canal that’s home to as much as 12% of the world’s seaborne trade, and caused a traffic jam with hundreds of ships waiting to enter the Suez.
Maritime data showed at least ten tankers and container ships changing course to avoid the logjam at the Suez Canal. Among them are at least two U.S. ships carrying natural gas for Cheniere and Shell/BG Group.
The crisis, now in its sixth day, has added to anxieties over the global supply chain which had already been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Each day of blockage disrupts more than $9 billion worth of goods, according to Lloyd’s List, which translates to about $400 million per hour.
Problem not solved yet
Experts told CNBC that problems caused by the Suez blockage will not immediately ease when the Ever Given is freed.
This will take quite awhile for the whole supply chain to get back to normal and that’s gonna have an impact on manufacturers, retailers right across the board.
Tim Huxley
director, Mandarin Shipping
Tim Huxley, director of Mandarin Shipping, said it will take “some time” for traffic that has built up to cross the narrow canal. And when those ships and tankers arrive at their destinations, ports will likely face congestion that will also take time to clear, he added.
“You normally have about 50 or so ships a day going through the canal, obviously at the moment it’s about 300 ships backed up … this is an enormous traffic jam, which is at both ends of the canal,” he told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Monday.
“This will take quite awhile for the whole supply chain to get back to normal and that’s gonna have an impact on manufacturers, retailers right across the board,” said Huxley.
— CNBC’s Matt Clinch, Natasha Turak and Lori Ann LaRocco contributed to this report.