Authority refloats bulker wedged in Suez Canal
Xin Hai Tong 23, a 189m, Hong-Kong-flagged geared bulker, which became the latest vessel to ...
The 20,000 teu Ever Given, which blocked the Suez Canal for six days in March, appears to be heading back to the waterway.
Owner Shoei Kisen Kaisha of Japan has so far been very circumspect about where the vessel is heading, following the last of the cargo being offloaded in Felixstowe, in the UK, on 4 August.
Reports that repairs were to be made in Dunkirk in France were seen to be incorrect as the ship passed the port following its departure from the UK. Since then, further reports that it was heading for repair yards in Valetta in Malta have also proved unfounded, though the ship did pass close to Malta, made a turn to a north easterly direction for around 20km, before again heading south-east towards Suez.
The vessel is currently around 350km north-west of Port Said at the northern entrance of the canal and steaming at 12.4kts which should see the Ever Given arrive at the entrance of the waterway tomorrow early evening.
Comment on this article
Theodor Strauss
August 18, 2021 at 2:29 pmSince when does The Loadstar talk about KM rather than (sea) miles? Hope it was simply a slip of the pen.
Nick Savvides
August 20, 2021 at 10:04 amHi Theodor, Thanks for your comment. It’s an interesting point you make. In fact I used AIS to measure the distance and it was AIS that used km. Our style guide tends towards the use of the metric system, as does most of the world so I believe this is the most popular measure. Though in shipping the norm appears to be miles or nautical miles. Interestingly, this story has had thousands of readers, but only one mention of the metric used. Perhaps this comment will stimulate more, but I would say, in conclusion, point noted and thanks again.