Saturday, March 27, 2021

Update on the Suez Canal situation

 

An update on the Suez Canal situation with the Ever Given.  Recovery efforts on Friday failed, meaning that as of this post on Saturday, this appears to be the longest complete shutdown of the canal since it reopened following the 1973 Arab-Israeli conflict.  Initial reports in the media are pointing to high winds and a sandstorm as the reason the ship veered off course and ran aground.  Dozens of ships have accidents in the Suez each year, but I'm still a bit skeptical.

In another twist, it has been reported that the Russians have been mocking the incident and suggested shippers consider an alternate Arctic route, perhaps facilitated by Russia's fleet of nuclear powered ice-breakers.  I am guessing this is just opportunistic propaganda by the Russians, and idea sounds a bit far fetched.  It does demonstrate yet another motive and mindset that could lead to a state sponsored cyber attack on maritime choke points.  Interesting...


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