Egypt's Suez Canal has been blocked by an enormous 400-metre (1300+ ft) long tanker that has run aground sideways in one of the world's busiest trade routes.
To say that the Suez Canal is an important trade route would be a phenomenal understatement. About 10% of global trade passes through the human-made Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Indian Ocean, cutting off more than 7,500km for a trip from London to Mumbai. It's plenty long (190km), but only a few hundred metres wide.
In 2019 almost 19,000 cargo ships passed through the Suez Canal, transporting 1,200 million tons of cargo through the waterway — a record for the canal.
Time = Money
We all know time is money, but for the Suez Canal, that saying holds particularly true. Around 50 container ships pass through the waterway every day, with an average toll fee of around $300k per ship — although the fees vary greatly depending on size, tonnage and other factors.
That means every day the passage is blocked is potentially $10-15m of lost fees, not to mention the delays and costs incurred by the waiting ships, which likely runs into the many millions as well. And you thought parallel parking with a few cars waiting was stressful.
