Suez Canal Out of Service

The  Ever Given cargo ship is blockading the Canal. It has a length of 400 m while the canal's width is 200 m. Its hull has a beam of 58.8 m, a depth of 32.9 m, and a fully laden draft of 14.5 metres . Ever Given has a gross tonnage of 220,940; net tonnage of 99,155; and deadweight tonnage of 199,629 tons. The ship's container capacity is 20,124 TEU.

The main engine is a low-speed two-stroke diesel. Coupled to a fixed-pitch propeller, it is rated at 59,300 kW (79,500 horsepower) at 79 rpm and gives the vessel a service speed of 22.8 knots (42.2 km/h; 26.2 mph). The vessel also has four straight-8 Yanmar 8EY33LW auxiliary diesel generators. For maneuvering in ports, Ever Given has two 2,500 kW (3,400 hp) bow thrusters Therefore it has not enough power to dig itself out of muddy bottom and sides of the canal. 

There are seemingly trying to dig out with JCB-like machines the front interred in the mud. I wonder why they are no pulling it with land cables and tractors. Now they are talking of discharging part of the cargo. Since they have an Egyptian pilot on board, I think that the responsibility falls on the Canal Authority. It will be a long fight to establish who pays the damages. The Europa Asia Pipeline (former Katzaa) will receive a large push with this disaster.