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A waterway crucial to global trade is currently blocked by a massive container ship, causing a traffic jam that could last days. 

The Ever Given, sailing under a Panamanian flag bound for The Netherlands from China, ran aground Tuesday morning. The ship was traveling northward through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean from the Red Sea when it 

The ship, wedged at an angle across the waterway, now blocks the path of other container vessels in both directions. Julianne Cona, who was aboard the Maersk Denver directly behind the Ever Given, shared an image of the vessel on Instagram. 

The ship is owned by container shipping company 

. The Ever Given was built in 2018 and stands about 1,300 feet long and 200 feet wide.

Egyptian tugboats have thus far failed to pull the ship free. The website 

 shows the Ever Given surrounded by at least five tugboats. 

The Suez Canal is a crucial global trade passage that provides the shortest warm-water maritime route from Europe to Asia. It's 120 miles long, 79 feet deep and 673 feet wide. Thousands of ships travel through the canal every year; more than 18,000 ships traveled the canal 

A traffic jam along the waterway could have "huge ramifications for global trade," Campbell University maritime history professor Sal Mercogliano 

"This is the largest vessel ever to go aground in the Suez Canal," he told the news organization. 

The Suez Canal is especially important to the shipment of oil. The 

U.S. Energy Information Administration said

 "The inability of oil to transit a major chokepoint, even temporarily, can lead to substantial supply delays and higher shipping costs, resulting in higher world energy prices."

The Suez Canal has been the site of other incidents that temporarily snarled shipping traffic. Two container ships, the German-flagged MV Colombo Express and the Singapore-flagged MV Maersk Tanjong, 

 a 22-mile expansion of the Suez Canal, allowing two-way traffic and accommodating larger vessels.   

Business and Economic News

Jaclyn Diaz

Author

Traffic through one of the world's busiest waterways was stalled after the Ever Given ran aground and blocked the Suez Canal.

Massive container ship runs aground in Suez Canal, halting traffic

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