Shipping Lines : Maersk following the development of the Vessel blockage in the Suez Canal

Currently Maersk and partners have three vessels stuck in the canal and 30 vessels waiting to enter the canal, with more expected to reach the blockage today

Whilst efforts in the Suez Canal continue to dislodge the container ship operated by Evergreen Marine, we have this morning received reports of good progress overnight. After several days with dredging and excavation, the Ever Given ship has been partly refloated. It is not yet fully dislodged and it is too early to say when the Suez Canal will be cleared for operations again, but we are monitoring the situation closely. A new advisory will be issued later today when we have more information.

Currently Maersk and partners have three vessels stuck in the canal and 30 vessels waiting to enter the canal, with more expected to reach the blockage today. We have until now redirected 15 vessels around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. These decisions were made close to the point of no return and it is expected that they will continue via the south of Africa, also to reduce the number of vessels in the queue.

Assessing the current backlog of vessels, it could take 6 days or more for the complete queue to pass, conditional to safety and other operational circumstances. As more vessels either reach the blockage or is redirected, this is an estimate and is subject to change.

Even when the canal gets reopened, the ripple effects on global capacity and equipment are significant and the blockage has already triggered a series of further disruptions and backlogs in global shipping that could take weeks, possibly months, to unravel. Your supply chain is of the utmost concern to us and we are closely following the refloating operations and will do our utmost to mitigate the impact as best as we can.

press release