Supply Lines is a daily newsletter that tracks trade and supply chains disrupted by the pandemic. Sign up here, and subscribe to our Covid-19 podcast for the latest news and analysis.
The logjam of ships building up around the Suez Canal has doubled, with the tight width of the key international waterway making it difficult to salvage the giant container ship that went aground and blocked it.
Work to re-float the Ever Given and allow passage for oceangoing carriers hauling almost $10 billion of oil and consumer goods could take days, or even weeks.
The blocking of the waterway is creating another setback for global supply chains already strained by the e-commerce boom linked to the pandemic. About 12% of global trade goes through the canal that’s so strategic world powers have fought over it.
WATCH: How much longer will the Suez Canal be blocked?
(Source: Quicktake)
Key Highlights:
- A.P. Moller-Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd consider sending ships around Africa
- 238 vessels were queued up Thursday, up from 186 Wednesday, according to Bloomberg data
- Ever Given has not moved and operations to re-float were still ongoing earlier in the afternoon, according to Inchcape Shipping Services
All time stamps London
Canal Traffic Jam Has Doubled to 238 Ships (5:37 p.m.)
The number of ships waiting to enter the Suez Canal is growing as the waterway remains blocked.
Data compiled by Bloomberg shows there were 238 vessels queued up Thursday, compared with 186 counted on Wednesday and around 100 at the start of the blockage.
The Queue of Ships at The Suez Canal Is Growing
Container Ship Diverting to Avoid Canal, Synergy Marine Says (5:23 p.m.)
A container ship is being diverted around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope to avoid the blocked Suez Canal, according to Rajesh Unni, a captain and chief executive officer of Synergy Marine.
Eight of more than 375 ships managed by Synergy Marine are caught up in the Suez Canal traffic jam. That includes a 20,000 TEU Ultra Large Container Vessel, or ULCV, three other large container ships, one Very Large Gas carrier, one chemical tanker and two bulk carriers.
“The longer the Canal is closed, the larger the queue of vessels that will be caught up in jams and the bigger the losses for shipping and, ultimately, consumers of the goods which we transport,” Unni siad.
Ships await passage through the Suez Canal.
Source: Airbus Space
Tanker Rates Climb Higher as Blockage Rumbles On (5:03 p.m.)
Rates for very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, hauling oil from the Middle East to China rose to $1,371 a day, registering a profit for only the second day in over seven weeks, according to the Baltic Exchange.
The canal blockage “is having more of an impact on the Suezmax sector where rates are starting to rise and where a lengthy blockage will more quickly affect vessel supply balances,” said Claire Grierson, senior director of tanker research at SSY.
Russia Gas Exports to Benefit From Blockage (4:32 p.m.)
Russia natural gas supplies via pipeline could provide Europe with some flexibility as LNG imports from the Middle East are affected by the blockage at the Suez Canal, consulting firm Rystad said in a note.
The U.S. could also benefit as shipments from its LNG export terminals could reach Europe much quicker than vessel going around Africa from the Middle East.
“It could be a perfect opportunity for U.S. producers to secure some orders at a time of such a transport route crisis,” Rystad said.
Not Much Room to Maneuver (3:39 p.m.)
It’s no wonder the stuck Ever Given in the Suez Canal is creating such a headache.
The key trade route is narrow -- less than 675 feet wide (205 meters) in some places -- and can be difficult to navigate. Work to re-float the giant container ship -- about a quarter mile long (400 meters) -- and allow passage for oceangoing carriers hauling almost $10 billion of everything from commodities to consumer goods continued without success on Thursday in Egypt.
The blockage highlights a major risk faced by the shipping industry as more and more vessels, which are getting bigger and bigger, transit maritime choke points including the Suez, Panama Canal and the Strait of Hormuz.
Tight Fit
There’s not a lot of room for maneuver in the Suez Canal for a ship as big as Ever Given
Source: Suez Canal Authority and ship tracking data monitored by Bloomberg
Big Container Lines Consider Diverting Ships Around Africa (3:27 p.m.)
A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S and Hapag-Lloyd AG, two of the world’s largest container carriers, said they’re considering sending ships around Africa to avoid a bottleneck in the Suez Canal.
Copenhagen-based Maersk in a statement said the company is considering all alternatives including diverting around the Cape of Good Hope. No decision has been made and it will depend on how long the delays last. Maersk said earlier that seven of its vessels are affected by the blocked waterway.
In a separate statement, Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd said it’s monitoring the situation “and closely follows the implications on its services. We are presently looking into possible vessel diversions around Cape of Good Hope.” It said it has five ships involved.
Suez Blockage Forces LNG Suppliers to Begin Shifting Flows (3:18 p.m.)
There may only be one liquefied natural gas tanker stuck inside the Suez Canal behind the marooned Ever Given, but there are already signs the blockage is beginning to disrupt global LNG flows.
The Golar Tundra, which loaded the gas in Egypt, was scheduled to arrive in Pakistan by the end of the month until the hold-up in the canal, according to traders with knowledge of the matter. The South Asian nation is now in discussions with its supplier about finding an alternative cargo, they said.
— With assistance by Sergio Chapa, Alex Longley, Julian Lee, Anthony Di Paola, Javier Blas, Robert Tuttle, Aaron Clark, Mirette Magdy, Fred Pals, Yvonne Yue Li, Lucia Kassai, and Elaine He
March 26, 2021 at 01:10AM
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-25/ship-logjam-doubles-with-little-room-to-maneuver-suez-update-kmp6ycal
Ship Logjam Doubles With Little Room to Maneuver: Suez Update - Bloomberg
https://news.google.com/search?q=little&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
No comments:
Post a Comment