APOLOGIES DO NOT come much bigger. This week Shoei Kisen Kaisha, a Japanese firm, issued a grovelling press release after its ship, the Ever Given, became wedged in the Suez Canal. High winds supposedly blew it off course on Tuesday, preventing other ships from passing through the seaway. The Ever Given’s stubborn refusal to refloat has launched a thousand memes, but the economic damage is no joke.
The canal carries 12% of global trade by volume, and an alternative route between Asia and Europe, around the Cape of Good Hope, adds more than a week to a ship’s journey. The Suez Canal is one of many narrow choke-points on which maritime trade relies. Others include the Panama Canal, which links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. Even without a ship as long as the Empire State Building is tall stopping traffic, these choke-points are under more pressure than ever.
************************************
Comments
I am so worried about not having enough toilet roll I have already stocked up with 700 rolls