Oriental Network·Zongxiang News Reporter Zhou Anna Bian Yinghao
Taiwan Evergreen Sea Transportation Super large container ship "Evergrande" accidentally ran aground, resulting in two-way blockage of the Suez Canal and interruption of flights for more than 78 hours. After three days, the chain reaction was like dominoes, appearing one by one and falling down one by one.
According to CNN on the 26th, in addition to the dredger that has been used on site, a special suction dredger will also be put into work soon. The dredger can transfer 2,000 cubic meters of silt per hour.
Still, rescue company personnel said the rescue may take several weeks to complete, and the best time for ships to escape may not arrive this Sunday or next Monday, when the tide reaches its peak.
However, for companies and countries that are hampered by impediment to trade, the loss every day is a high price. Currently, about 12% of global trade transportation needs to pass through the Suez Canal, which makes the canal strategic.
Experts are worried that if the ships are not towed back to the original channel as soon as possible, the impact of the blockage will involve the oil market, shipping and container freight rates, resulting in an increase in daily commodity costs.
stays for one hour and loses US$400 million! How does a ship affect the global economy?
A stranded ship blocks the Suez Canal, which may affect the economic operation of the whole world. The first thing that can bear the brunt of
is the crude oil price. According to a research report by JPMorgan University, at present, about 5%-10% of the world's maritime oil needs to be transported through the Suez Canal. According to the conversion, every day this ship is stranded, it will delay the transportation of at least 3 million to 5 million barrels of oil. According to the OPEC report of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the scale of Japan's crude oil imports in 2019 was exactly 3 million barrels per day.
On the day of the incident, on March 24 local time, Brent crude oil price closed sharply by 6.06%, setting the largest daily increase in the past year. However, this increase has fallen slightly in recent days. The market began to gradually digest the impact of this emergencies.
On the other hand, this canal blockage incident that is rare in a century has brought more than just the energy field. In addition to energy products such as crude oil and natural gas, the consumer goods they mainly transport include clothing, food, electronic products, industrial parts, etc.
The congestion of the canal directly lead to an increase in related freight costs. According to rough statistics, during the canal blockage, the distance of Asia-Europe trade routes will be extended by at least 20%. The rise in transportation costs will further disrupt the prices of global supply chains and may eventually lead to an increase in prices of related commodities.
In fact, the blockage of the Suez Canal has caused immeasurable economic losses. According to data analysis by Lloyds Classification Society, the various losses caused by the Suez Canal every hour of blockage are as high as US$400 million, and its daily losses are nearly US$5 billion, or approximately RMB 32 billion.
(Picture says: ships affected by congestion on Asia-Europe routes)
container ship accounts for one-third of the transportation volume! How does a ship affect the price of shipping?
According to the Guardian, less than 24 hours after the Ever Gift was stranded, about 100 passing ships were blocked. As of the 25th, more than 160 ships were stuck at both ends.
It is worth noting that among these stuck ships, container ships account for about one-third of the total Suez Canal transport. The Ever Given itself is one of the largest container ships in the world, capable of carrying more than 18,000 containers. At the moment when the global supply chain recovery is facing a bottleneck, this can be said to be adding fuel to the fire.
CNBC quoted the CEO of Marine Intelligence Consulting, saying that at present, two-thirds of container ships are already late, and this delay will increase the time for backlog of inventory, which will affect the arrival and sales of imported goods. "The longer the delay, the worse the situation is, because we are at a time when supply is already in short supply," the CEO said.
On the other hand, the blockade of the Suez Canal has also affected the return of container ships, which will further aggravate the problem of container shortage. According to reports, due to the current imbalance in container distribution, containers are in short supply in Asia. If the return trip is continuously affected, the price of shipping will grow rapidly.
A maritime trade and logistics consultant said that China's supply has recovered rapidly, but "containers are very scarce and it is difficult to find space for storage of finished products. The delay in the arrival of spare containers in the Suez Canal will further increase China's inventory."
170 kilometers canal is blocked by a 400-meter boat. How does a boat affect people's daily life?
According to statistics, the total length of the Suez Canal is 170 kilometers. The "Tianci" involved in this incident is 400 meters long. This container ship, which is like a drop in the ocean in front of the surging canal, is like a dumping domino, continuing to affect the global economic structure.
Perhaps in the near future, this series of dominoes will eventually fall in front of ordinary consumers.
According to Bloomberg, many regions rely on the Suez Canal to transport daily necessities. Among them, Suzano, the world's largest wood pulp manufacturer, has issued a warning that global freighter ships may cause interruptions in the supply of wood pulp, which will affect the supply of toilet paper.
wood pulp is the raw material for producing toilet paper. The article said that many parts of the world, including Taiwan, had a "toilet paper chaos" at the beginning of the outbreak last year, and now it may be aggravated by the ship blockage of the Suez Canal.
(Picture: In March 2020, Australia experienced a situation where people rushed to buy toilet paper)
At the same time, the sky-high compensation fee has also attracted attention.
Reuters said that even if the Ever Giovanni escaped quickly, as one of the world's largest container ships, the large amount of cargo on board, the excavation costs and pollution costs of the rescue process, may face millions of dollars in compensation from ship owners and insurers, and make this case the largest compensation case for global freight transportation.
At present, the British Mutual Insurance Association, which is responsible for EVA Insurance compensation, refuses to respond to the specific compensation content and amount, which only states that EVA Insurance covers pollution and injury compensation. On the 25th, Zhang Yanyi, chairman of Evergreen Shipping, replied in writing to Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation, saying that the "Evergrande" is the company's long-term chartered ship. It is the owner's responsibility to cause damage to the ship due to any operational errors or force majeure on the ship, and the same is true for this accident.
In fact, for the Suez Canal, it has never experienced many crises, and accidents like ship jamming can be said to be the "normal". Since its official navigation in 1869, the canal has been a battle for some countries, with the Third Middle East War in 1967 even forcibly shutting down for eight years and not re-navigated until 1975.
But the comment pointed out that the canal was paralyzed so much because the level of trade between Eurasia had increased significantly in the decades after the war, which made the accident more impactful and more destructive.
"The shipping scale of the Suez Canal has become so large that it is basically difficult for the authorities in Egypt to keep up with its growth rate." CNN commented.
