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    Suez Canal Blockage - How Cargo Ships Like Ever Given Became So Huge, and Why They're Causing Problems

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    A.G. Ashish
    The Ever Given, one of the largest cargo ships in the world, blocked the Suez Canal for six days in March 2021. While cargo ships have increasingly grown in size over the past decades to improve efficiency, the Ever Given's accident has prompted debate about whether these megaships have become too large. Megaships offer significant economic benefits due to their large carrying capacity but also pose challenges like difficulty navigating confined spaces. An investigation is still determining the exact cause of the Ever Given running aground, but there is little evidence overall that megaships are too big or should be scrapped.

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    Suez Canal Blockage - How Cargo Ships Like Ever Given Became So Huge, and Why They're Causing Problems

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    A.G. Ashish
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    The Ever Given, one of the largest cargo ships in the world, blocked the Suez Canal for six days in March 2021. While cargo ships have increasingly grown in size over the past decades to improve efficiency, the Ever Given's accident has prompted debate about whether these megaships have become too large. Megaships offer significant economic benefits due to their large carrying capacity but also pose challenges like difficulty navigating confined spaces. An investigation is still determining the exact cause of the Ever Given running aground, but there is little evidence overall that megaships are too big or should be scrapped.

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    Suez Canal blockage_ how cargo ships like Ever Given became so huge, and why they're causing problems

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    The Ever Given, one of the largest cargo ships in the world, blocked the Suez Canal for six days in March 2021. While cargo ships have increasingly grown in size over the past decades to improve efficiency, the Ever Given's accident has prompted debate about whether these megaships have become too large. Megaships offer significant economic benefits due to their large carrying capacity but also pose challenges like difficulty navigating confined spaces. An investigation is still determining the exact cause of the Ever Given running aground, but there is little evidence overall that megaships are too big or should be scrapped.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    45 views3 pages

    Suez Canal Blockage - How Cargo Ships Like Ever Given Became So Huge, and Why They're Causing Problems

    Uploaded by

    A.G. Ashish
    The Ever Given, one of the largest cargo ships in the world, blocked the Suez Canal for six days in March 2021. While cargo ships have increasingly grown in size over the past decades to improve efficiency, the Ever Given's accident has prompted debate about whether these megaships have become too large. Megaships offer significant economic benefits due to their large carrying capacity but also pose challenges like difficulty navigating confined spaces. An investigation is still determining the exact cause of the Ever Given running aground, but there is little evidence overall that megaships are too big or should be scrapped.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 3

    12/21/21, 12:32 AM Suez Canal blockage: how cargo ships like Ever Given became so huge, and why

    ecame so huge, and why they're causing problems

    Academic rigour, journalistic flair

    The Ever Given was unwedged from the Suez Canal on March 29 after salvage crews battled for six days to free her.
    Martin Lüke/Alamy

    Suez Canal blockage: how cargo ships like Ever Given became
    so huge, and why they’re causing problems
    April 1, 2021 3.16pm BST

    Evangelos Boulougouris
    Professor, Naval Architecture, Ocean and Marine Engineering, University of Strathclyde

    The six-day blockage of the Suez Canal by a megaship named Ever Given came to an end on March 29
    after salvage teams used dredging and tug boats to heave the vessel back into operation.

    The capacity of a single vessel to block one of the world’s busiest shipping corridors, creating a traffic
    jam of hundreds of boats, has sparked a debate about the ever-growing size of megaships, with the
    Ever Given’s accident taken as evidence that they’ve simply become too large.

    At 400 metres long, the Ever Given is indeed among the largest 1% of the world’s fleet. Its high-profile
    accident will result in a new wave of precautions to make megaships safer, but it will also prompt the
    shipping industry to reflect on whether such gigantic vessels actually do more harm than good.

    Bigger boats

    Container ships have been increasing in size for decades in order to carry more containers on each
    voyage. According to analysis from Allianz, the number of 20-foot containers that ships can carry has
    increased by 1,500% over the past 50 years.

    https://theconversation.com/suez-canal-blockage-how-cargo-ships-like-ever-given-became-so-huge-and-why-theyre-causing-problems-158090 1/3
    12/21/21, 12:32 AM Suez Canal blockage: how cargo ships like Ever Given became so huge, and why they're causing problems

    One of the most significant size upgrades came when Maersk introduced its E-series in 2006, which
    can carry around 15,000 containers – doubling the capacity of the previous largest container ships.

    In the 15 years since then, some 133 ships have been launched with a carrying capacity of between
    18,000 and 24,000 containers. These are classed as ultra large container vessels – the biggest boats in
    the world. The Ever Given is one such vessel.

    A graph showing the increased carry capacity of container


    ships increasing between 2000 and 2020

    TEU stands for ‘twenty-foot equivalent units’ – the standard size of a single shipping container.
    Author provided

    Economies of scale

    Megaships are particularly attractive for international shipping firms because they offer economies of
    scale: the larger the ship, the more efficient it is at transporting goods.

    The Ever Given can carry 20,000 containers, while so-called very large containerships can carry a
    maximum of just 9,000 containers. Using just one vessel instead of two to carry the same load saves
    fuel, significantly reduces the cost of transportation per container, and reduces the ship’s
    environmental footprint.

    When megaships were first introduced, there were doubts about whether they’d actually use their
    huge carrying capacity. But evidence suggests they do: the Ever Given was reportedly carrying more
    than 18,000 containers when it became wedged in the Suez Canal. Unfortunately, carrying this many
    containers also has its downsides.

    Megaship downsides

    Operating megaships in confined waterways has already been shown to be difficult. Stacking them
    high with containers doesn’t help: it can lead the vessels to catch the wind and become even harder to
    control, which may have played a role in the Ever Given’s grounding.

    A side-on picture of the Ever Given container ship in the Suez


    Canal

    The Ever Given may have grounded after its containers caught high winds in the Suez Canal.
    Suez Canal Authority

    When caught in a storm on open seas, such ships may also be more prone to losing containers
    overboard. According to recent analysis, at least five of the largest class of container ship lost
    containers during this year’s winter storm season in the Pacific.

    Infrastructure is also struggling to cope with these larger ships. According to a 2015 report, ports,
    straits and canals require expansion to make way for the new class of megaships. The cost of such
    projects is immense: the expansion of the Panama Canal in 2016 to accommodate bigger ships ended
    up costing over $5 billion (£3.6 billion). In light of these infrastructural concerns, there may be an
    economic argument against expanding the number or size of megaships in our seas.

    https://theconversation.com/suez-canal-blockage-how-cargo-ships-like-ever-given-became-so-huge-and-why-theyre-causing-problems-158090 2/3
    12/21/21, 12:32 AM Suez Canal blockage: how cargo ships like Ever Given became so huge, and why they're causing problems

    Size to blame?

    An investigation is ongoing into the cause of the Ever Given’s accident, which should tell us to what
    extent her size was responsible. Based on previous incidents, strong winds, malfunctioning machinery
    and even human error could equally be to blame.

    My research at the Maritime Safety Research Centre studies incidents such as this one, trying to
    understand the hazards and risks that may contribute to maritime accidents. When operational
    vessels run into trouble, we can learn from them to avoid accidents happening again.

    Read more:
    Top three take-away lessons from the Suez Canal blockage

    If the Ever Given’s size was to blame for its accident, you’d expect other megaships, which have been
    transiting the Suez Canal for years, to have experienced similar difficulties. But a quick check of
    accident statistics shows that there are only two or three similar incidents involving megaships in the
    canal per year – out of 19,000 annual crossings.

    In most cases, these are minor accidents causing little disruption, and they occur at such a low
    frequency that the Ever Given’s accident should not be interpreted as evidence that container ships
    have become too big.

    But seeing as the consequences of the Ever Given’s accident were so severe, new maritime safety
    measures will rightly be put in place to avoid a similar incident happening in the future, such as ship
    design changes, better pilot training, the use of tug boats as canal escorts, autonomous guidance
    systems, and the widening of waterways.

    Regardless of new safety measures, the Ever Given’s accident may well come to be regarded as a
    “black swan” event: an unpredictable one-off, rather than a sign of things to come. At present, there’s
    little evidence to suggest that container ships have become too big, or that the downsides of such
    megaships should result in their being scrapped.

    https://theconversation.com/suez-canal-blockage-how-cargo-ships-like-ever-given-became-so-huge-and-why-theyre-causing-problems-158090 3/3

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