Evergreen (Ever Given)

Introduction

The Suez Canal is a waterway that connects the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. It is the busiest shipping passage in the world, and without it, ships would be forced to travel around the entire continent of Africa to make deliveries! In March of 2021, the Ever Given container ship got stuck in the Suez passage, preventing other ships from passing through the canal. Ships forced around the continent of Africa have cost businesses and manufacturers a total of $400 million for every hour the Ever Given remained stuck.

With 10% of the world’s shipping being prevented from reaching Europe, the $5.1 billion dollar-a-day disaster caused problems for retail, gas, and manufacturing industries. One UK company said it had 20 containers stranded on the Ever Given and were waiting on food products like coconut milk and syrups, spare parts for motors, and even forklift trucks. On top of monetary costs, the short-term emissions from forcing other container ships to take alternate routes have impacted local environments.

The blockage of the Suez Canal demonstrates how fragile the supply chain can be and how a small error can cause global economic disruption. Whether the disaster happened due to weather, a ship malfunction, or pilot error, the billions of dollars lost by businesses trying to recover from Covid-19 had significant impacts worldwide. (Demand Inflation)