Freeing the stuck container ship Ever Given in the Suez Canal

[Lnewqban]

Copied from:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ever_Given

"For maneuvering in ports, Ever Given has two 2,500 kW (3,400 hp) bow thrusters."

Note the location of the two thrusters indicated by marks close to the water-line by the anchors.
The second picture shown in post ##16 seems to indicate that the sand/mud has reached those two cavities.

 

[BillTre]

At one time I worked on a ship that had a through the hull bow thruster and two screws at the stern that were independently powered.
They could make that ship go sideways.
It was a much smaller (and more maneuverable) ship that the Ever Given. It was about 250 feet long and the bridge might have been at the level of the boarding opening by the name on the side, if that high up.

 

[Astronuc]

https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2021/03/27/suez-canal-ship-kids-solve-orig-jnd.cnn

 

[Nugatory]

Probably just returning to home port to reload, I'd guess. I just used Google Images to find an empty container ship.

There’s no such thing as an empty container ship except when it’s leaving the shipyard or heading to the ship breakers. Even when there’s no return cargo the empty containers have to go back, so we get a container ship full of empty containers, not an empty container ship.

However, depending on how the containers are removed (this has to be done in a particular order to avoid destabilizing the ship) it may be possible to pile them up on land, dump them onto available barges, truck them away... but 20000 times some number of minutes is a long time even with some reasonable amount of parallelism.

 

[Nugatory]

Here’s a chart from one of the maritime traffic tracking sites. In this part of the canal the channel is dredged on the left-hand side and the right-hand side is shoal water. It’s not just the bow that’s stuck in the bank, a substantial portion of the hull is well and thoroughly aground.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Breaking the ship apart would be a really bad idea.

Easier to get it out in pieces.

The cost of fixing it later is trivial compared to the losses accumulating while the canal is blocked.

That's true, but the people who will pay for the repair are not necessarily those who are losing money because the canal is closed.

I don't know how much one of these ships costs, but I'd imagine between $100M and $200M. So we're quickly coming onto the point where losses exceed the cost of one ship. If there's one thing we've learned in the last 5 days is that extraction will not be simple.

 

[Nugatory]

Easier to get it out in pieces

I am reminded of the horse and Dean Wormer’s office
It floated into this situation and floating it out is by far the easiest solution... breaking a ship into pieces small enough to lift out of the channel with a crane is a seriously big job.

 

[hutchphd]

Two questions:
1) Are the bottom contours the result of prevailing winds and sand or is there geo structure there?
2) Could you sever the bow (in a watertight way) and float it out ..it seems to be less profoundly encircled?

Man that thing is stuck

 

[Vanadium 50]

I am reminded of the horse and Dean Wormer’s office

Seven years of college down the drain.

It floated into this situation and floating it out is by far the easiest solution

Certainly true, but now that the bow ballast tanks are filled with water, it's no longer in the same condition as it was at the start of all this. I think it will take a mixture of lightning and dredging and tugging and pumping to undo all this.

 

[Astronuc]

Ever Given ship partially freed in the Suez Canal, authority confirms
https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/29/africa/suez-canal-refloating-intl-hnk/index.html

The stern has been freed and the ship rotated away from the west bank. They are waiting for high tide and hope to align the ship with the canal, then tow it north to the Bitter Lakes.

The high tides will begin to lessen this week.

Edit/Update: Bloomberg - Giant Ship Finally Freed, Allowing Canal to Reopen: Suez Update
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/progress-made-moving-ship-more-045211868.html

The Ever Given container ship stuck in the Suez Canal was finally pulled free, allowing the crucial trade route to reopen to traffic.

The vessel is now fully afloat, the Suez Canal Authority said in a statement. The ship was moving north from where it was grounded, according to ship-tracking data and television footage.

https://www.businessinsider.com/ever-given-freed-from-the-suez-canal-2021-3

 

[geordief]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56567985

"Suez Canal: Giant ship blocking Suez Canal finally freed"

Now f off

 

[hutchphd]

Hooray for the full moon!

 

[ardnog]

I like how the weight of the ship and number of containers changes randomly from day to day and site to site and even on the same site, because they have no idea how the multiple different measurements for weight or containers work. They've had a week to look it up or ask an expert. A very standard lack of technical research for certain news agencies.

 

[ardnog]

Seen video. Under tow, very low in the water, down at the bow, listing to port. Fortunately no boxes have fallen overboard ... yet ... nor does it appear to be getting lower in the water. Route from here would have been Rotterdam Felixstowe Hamburg but whole thing needs to be inspected.

 

[hmmm27]

Ah well, another crisis averted ; meanwhile, back at the Kardashians...

Was anybody else waiting for somebody to say "Ya know... a low yield thermonuclear weapon would clean that right up" ?

 

[geordief]

Ah well, another crisis averted ; meanwhile, back at the Kardashians...

Was anybody else waiting for somebody to say "Ya know... a low yield thermonuclear weapon would clean that right up" ?

No,but I thought it

And I know who would have wanted to do it pretty sharply

 

[ardnog]

No,but I thought it

And I know who would have wanted to do it pretty sharply

The insurance company, because acts of war aren't covered, and they're probably finished.

 

[Astronuc]

On March 29, the Ever Given container ship arrived at the Great Bitter Lake, effectively clearing the Suez Canal.
https://www.vox.com/world/2021/3/29/22356580/ship-stuck-suez-canal-free-unstuck-ever-given

The ship has now been towed to Egypt’s Great Bitter Lake, about midway through the canal, where it will undergo an inspection, the head of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Osama Rabie said, according to state-run Al Ahram newspaper.

“The outcome of that inspection will determine whether the ship can resume its scheduled service. Once the inspection is finalized, decisions will be made regarding arrangements for cargo currently on board,” charter company Evergreen said, according to CNN.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/suez-canal-fallout-what-caused-the-ever-givens-grounding-answer-will-be-expensive-for-some/ar-BB1f7wsp?li=BBnb7Kz

Egyptian government officials, insurers and shippers are awaiting reports on what caused the grounding. A determination of fault will likely lead to years of litigation to recoup the costs of repairing the ship, fixing the canal and reimbursing shippers for the disruptions they faced, said Capt. John Konrad, the founder and CEO of the shipping news website gcaptain.com.

 

[BWV]

We will know more when this interview airs

 

[256bits]

A determination of fault will likely lead to years of litigation

More nail biting drama to ensue, and not all tongue n check . Should be interesting.
I blame the canal guys for operating a defective product in today's era of large ships.

 

[ardnog]

I blame the canal guys for operating a defective product in today's era of large ships.

For real? Large ships have been using that canal for years and no-one else has got wedged in.

I suspect, as usual, it's a combination of errors, none which on their own will have caused it. However, assigning liability is totally different again.

If I sit on a park bench, and it's a weak design and breaks, and I get hurt; the accident report will say that the factory failed to test it, the park failed to maintain it, and I failed to check it before sitting on it. It will recommend we all do these things in future because if just one of us does, it won't happen again.

However when it comes to liability, the court won't hold me liable, and the park and factory will fight it out avoid getting fined.

Anyway, because of the accident report finding facts but not assigning blame, the press won't understand, and you will see news articles asking why the customer with the busted backside is being critized.

 

[Vanadium 50]

For real? Large ships have been using that canal for years and no-one else has got wedged in.

Certainly not the Tropic Brilliance in 2004, the Okal King Dor in 2006 or the OOCL Japan in 2017. That would just be crazy talk.

 

[ardnog]

Out of those 3, only Tropic Brilliance was proper stuck, and that was close to 20 years ago when ships and the canal was a different size and shape. But I accept your point and will write more carefully in future.