Suez Canal blocked by grounded container ship since at least 0600 UTC today - Traffic in both directions stopped; Millions of yuros' Amazon delivery dates updated

Im sort of surprised at the lack of on hand machinery. Dont they have to do repairs at times or management of the area?
That canal cant be built THAT good?
 
  • Agree
Reactions: Aldeland
1616689861396.png

This will take a while.
 
  • Like
  • Feels
  • Agree
Reactions: Toolbox, HOMO FOR LIFE, Eternal Gopnik and 10 others
KiwiFuzz said:
How could they unload the ship? Is a Sikorsky big enough to shift a fully loaded container, or do they need to assemble an STS crane (AT-AT) there?

(Edit to partially answer my own question: A Sikorsky can lift 20,000 pounds. A big shipping container weighs about 9,000 pounds empty. So this does not seem practical.)
Click to expand...
A MI26 Halo can lift about 45.000 pounds, and IIRC there are some north african countries still operating them right beside Egypt. Theres also a bunch of civilian ones in Europe and Russia that have acted as very expensive tow trucks for stranded Chinooks and Apaches.
 
  • Like
  • Informative
Reactions: Pocket Dragoon and KiwiFuzz
It is hard to comprehend how much effort or HP it is really going to take to dislodge an object of that kind of mass - while trying not to penetrate a 20mm hull. I've been in beached boats - and I can only ask you to stick your hand in a bucket of cement or mud and try to yank it out to understand the forces needed.

Then multiply that by about 1-5 million.

And as one posted pointed out, the in and out of the tide would have stressed the bulkheads and spine of that ship like mad.

What they REALLY are worried about probably, is when they do free it, is how to ensure it is balanced enough so they can quickly get it out of there so when it sinks it doesn't block access. They aren't worried about a few scratches on it - the hull is toast, what they are worried about is water rushing it and unbalancing the thing.

The worst case scenario is they dislodge it, and as it straightens up, it tips over. spilling thousands of containers, and having an entire broadside beneath the water. Then you'll need every tug from there to South Africa. A very real possibility it tips, and then the Suez is gone for 6 weeks.
Screenshot (1394).png
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Informative
  • Feels
Reactions: NoSpiceLife, Extricate Cavitations, Toolbox and 14 others
I wonder how big the payout from Evergreen's insurer is going to be. Surely the price tag for this little maneuver is already in the tens of billions. That ship doesn't look like it's going anywhere, so if they have to unload it in place and then try to move it back into the channel, where it may or may not float, that will take time. It will also be expensive to reroute shipping around Africa, that's a long haul. The lawyers will be fighting over this for decades to come.
 
I'm blue-skying here:

Would it be practical to build a giant-ass aquadam kiddie pool around the thing to get it to float higher?

It's apparently got a draught of 47'7" so you'd have to go up a ways.
 
Leibowitz said:
I wonder how big the payout from Evergreen's insurer is going to be. Surely the price tag for this little maneuver is already in the tens of billions. That ship doesn't look like it's going anywhere, so if they have to unload it in place and then try to move it back into the channel, where it may or may not float, that will take time. It will also be expensive to reroute shipping around Africa, that's a long haul. The lawyers will be fighting over this for decades to come.
Click to expand...
The value of the ship plus immediate damages...then... for the 5 days $10,000 per minute and after day 5 I'd say about $100,000 per minute, and after 10 days about $250,000 per minute.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DeadFish and Ron Jeremy Stan Account
Android raptor said:
Maybe after they get all the containers out they can sell it to Greta and Nina, wouldn't be
Click to expand...

The Demon Baby said:
Yes it absolutely would. The keel of the ship is already fucked. There's a bunch of micro-fractures in it already, and it might not even be possible to sail it out of the canal as it stands right now. That ship will never sail again because of the damage that's already been done to it, even if they somehow get it out of the canal without it sinking.

It was grounded on both shores of the canal, with all the weight from the shipping containers in the middle of the ship. The tides have been going up and down, which stresses the fuck out of the entire hull. Think of it like bending a paper clip back and forth a few times. You can do that a couple of times, but then it will snap.

Here's the ship. Everything that's red should be underwater:
View attachment 2027473
They literally have 2 guys and 1 bulldozer trying to dig this fucking ship out. LOL.

....and this is every engineer figuring out what to do:
View attachment 2027476
Click to expand...
Finally I got that image squared away for that Dictionary entry...

Screenshot (1396).png
 
  • Like
  • Feels
Reactions: Serin Spaghetti, Toolbox, cactus and 8 others
Menotaur said:
It is hard to comprehend how much effort or HP it is really going to take to dislodge an object of that kind of mass - while trying not to penetrate a 20mm hull. I've been in beached boats - and I can only ask you to stick your hand in a bucket of cement or mud and try to yank it out to understand the forces needed.

Then multiply that by about 1-5 million.

And as one posted pointed out, the in and out of the tide would have stressed the bulkheads and spine of that ship like mad.

What they REALLY are worried about probably, is when they do free it, is how to ensure it is balanced enough so they can quickly get it out of there so when it sinks it doesn't block access. They aren't worried about a few scratches on it - the hull is toast, what they are worried about is water rushing it and unbalancing the thing.

The worst case scenario is they dislodge it, and as it straightens up, it tips over. spilling thousands of containers, and having an entire broadside beneath the water. Then you'll need every tug from there to South Africa. A very real possibility it tips, and then the Suez is gone for 6 weeks.
View attachment 2028226
Click to expand...
So what are world wide ramifications if it does tip? I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see that shit show
 
  • Feels
  • Like
Reactions: NoSpiceLife, Coccxys, Tzeentch and 1 other person
Leibowitz said:
I wonder how big the payout from Evergreen's insurer is going to be. Surely the price tag for this little maneuver is already in the tens of billions. That ship doesn't look like it's going anywhere, so if they have to unload it in place and then try to move it back into the channel, where it may or may not float, that will take time. It will also be expensive to reroute shipping around Africa, that's a long haul. The lawyers will be fighting over this for decades to come.
Click to expand...
It's not just a long haul, the southern seas of Africa are apparently also a haven for sea monsters. Every old world map seems to think so.
Old time world map.png
 
  • Informative
  • Like
  • Agree
Reactions: Marchesa of the Vast, not william stenchever, Toolbox and 26 others
The Demon Baby said:
Honestly, all they'd really have to do is pull up near the canal in a Jeep and shoot an RPG at it and blow a hole in the side. They're in Egypt, after all. I'm sure there are a bunch of jihadis who have a bit of heavy weaponry in the area. Blow a hole in the side of the ship, and they can't even think about trying to move it because it will sink and block the canal until it can be disassembled, which would take 4 or 5 months.

I was actually thinking something like this earlier. This would be a really good time for a pissed off country to start a war. Supply lines are completely fucked now.

12% of global trade goes through that canal. But it's actually a much larger percentage of global trade. All of the component parts which are assembled in Europe and the US pass through that canal. So if, let's say, Volkswagon can't get the parts they need, they have to shut down. Pretty much all of the computer chips in the world are made in China, so this blockage cuts off ALL of those computer chips to Europe.

This is actually a Mega Happening. This thread should be in the Happenings section.
Click to expand...
Global trade is already pretty much fucked for the US West coast as the terminals of LA and Long Beach are hopelessly delayed.
 
  • Feels
Reactions: The Demon Baby, DeadFish and Mr. Bung
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back