Ever Given

On 9 February 2019, the ship collided with and heavily damaged Finkenwerder, a 25-metre-long (82 ft) HADAG ferry boat which was berthed at Blankenese, near the harbour of Hamburg.[15][16] Two minutes after the collision, a traffic ban on the Elbe river was mandated due to high winds.[17]

Satellite image of Ever Given blocking the Suez Canal

At 07:40 Eastern European Time (UTC+02:00) on 23 March 2021, as it was passing through the Suez Canal on her way to Rotterdam from Tanjung Pelepas,[9][18] Ever Given became stuck (coordinates 30.01761°N 32.58018°E / 30.01761; 32.58018) near the village of Manshiyet Rugola[19] and blocked the canal.[8] According to a statement by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), the ship ran aground diagonally after losing the ability to steer amid high winds and a dust storm.[20] In a separate statement, Evergreen Marine said that it had been told the ship "was suspected of being hit by a sudden strong wind, causing the hull to deviate from [the] waterway and accidentally hit the bottom".[1][20] The ship ended up with her bow wedged in one bank of the canal and stern nearly touching the other.[21]

Tugboats trying to free the jammed ship, as viewed from the International Space Station, 27 March 2021

The ship, which had no tugboat, was the fifth in a northbound convoy, behind two prior container ships that were each paired with a tugboat. There were fifteen vessels behind it when it ran aground. Traffic in both directions was blocked for just over six days,[22] leading to a traffic jam of over two hundred vessels.[1][23] On 24 March, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the technical manager of the ship, denied earlier reports that it had been partially refloated.[18] In addition, trade experts were worried about a supply chain delay, and tension due to the delay for the ships trapped as well as other vessels that planned to cross the Suez.[24]

Eight tugboats worked to re-float the vessel in collaboration with excavators removing sand from the side of the canal where the bow of the vessel was wedged.[18][25] After an overnight break, the salvage work resumed in the morning of 25 March.[26]

Egyptian meteorologists reported that high winds and a sandstorm had affected the area on the day of the grounding, with winds gusting as much as 50 kilometres per hour (31 mph).[27] Addressing a press conference on 27 March, Admiral Osama Rabie, chairman of the SCA, said that weather conditions were "not the main reasons" for the ship's grounding, adding, "There may have been technical or human errors ... All of these factors will become apparent in the investigation."[28][29]

Aided by high spring tide, the ship was partially freed from sediment and re-floated on 29 March 2021 at 05:42 EGY (03:42 UTC), apart from the bow, which was still caught.[30][31]

The ship was finally freed in the afternoon at 15:05 EGY (13:05 UTC),[32][33] and the ship started moving under tow towards the Great Bitter Lake for technical inspection, the first step towards reopening the canal,[34] planned for later that day.[33] After the canal had been checked for damage, the SCA informed shipping agencies that shipping was to resume from 19:00 local time (17:00 UTC).[35]

On 13 April, the SCA announced that the ship had been seized on court orders until the owners paid $900 million in damages.[36] On 4 July 2021 the German newspaper Der Spiegel reported that the owners and the SCA had agreed on compensation, although the exact amount remained unclear.[37] The ship departed from the Suez Canal on 7 July for scheduled deliveries of cargo at several European ports.[38]

On 7 July 2021, Egyptian authorities released the ship after an unspecified settlement was reached. It was announced that Egypt would also receive a 75-ton tugboat from the ship's Japanese owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha, as part of the compensation package. Ever Given sailed to Port Said.[39] Hull inspections were carried out, with the vessel finally departing on 12 July, after a seizure delay of more than 100 days.[40][41]

The ship finally arrived at her destination, the Rotterdam Maasvlakte, NL, container terminal on 29 July, after sailing for 17 days, (although the trip was originally expected to take 9 days [42]), 22 days after her release by the Egyptian government, and over four months after her grounding;.[43][44][45] She became a tourist attraction during that time.[46] After unloading about three quarters of the load in Rotterdam, Ever Given departed on 2 August, mooring in Felixstowe Trinity Container Terminal on 3 August to complete unloading, before going out of service prior to inspection at Harwich Anchorage by Leask Marine (Orkney) on behalf of American Bureau of Shipping.[47][48][49] She departed 6 August, for refueling at Malta Bunkering Area 3, preceded by Scot Munchen, on 15 August.[50] During the morning of 20 August, Ever Given transited through the Suez Canal, within a 22-vessel convoy.[51] [52] [53]

On 20 September 2021 the ship arrived at Qingdao Port anchorage, before berthing alongside the sufficiently large dry dock facilities for repairs on 4 October. Qingdao is also close to Chinese shipping ports where the vessel was projected to re-enter service in late October[54] to mid-November.[55] Photographs taken upon arrival at Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry pier indicate bow crumple damage extending as far back as the rear bow thruster tunnel.[56] After spending nearly six weeks in dry dock there, she returned to service in November 2021, docking at Qingdao and Shanghai before continuing on her normal route.[57]