On 23 March 2021, while traveling from Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia[9] to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the ship ran aground in the Suez Canal, blocking the channel. She remained in place for six days before salvage crews freed her on 29 March 2021.[10] The vessel was impounded by the Egyptian government on 13 April 2021 for refusing to pay a reported $916 million in fees demanded by the government, including $300 million in "loss of reputation".[11][12] The compensation claim was later cut down to $600 million.[13] In early July 2021, the ship was released by the Egyptian authorities following an agreement on compensation.
Description
Ever Given (IMO 9811000) is one of 13 container ships built to the Imabari 20000 design developed by Imabari Shipbuilding, 11 of which have been chartered by Evergreen Marine with names starting with "Ever G".[4] The ship was laid down on 25 December 2015, launched on 9 May 2018 and completed on 25 September 2018.[1] It is Evergreen's second ship to be named Ever Given; the first one (IMO 8320901) was built in 1986 and has since been broken up.[14]
With a length overall of 399.94 metres (1,312 ft 2 in),[1]Ever Given is one of the longest ships in service. The hull has a beam of 58.8 metres (192 ft 11 in) and her height from keel to main deck (hull depth) is 32.9 metres (107 ft 11 in).[1] Fully laden at design draught, Ever Given draws 14.5 metres (47 ft 7 in) of water while the scantling draught, which is used as the basis of hull strength and structural design, is 16.0 metres (52.5 ft).[1]Ever Given has a gross tonnage of 220,940; net tonnage of 99,155; and deadweight tonnage of 199,629 tons at design draught.[1] The ship's container capacity is 20,124 TEU.[5]
As with most large container ships, Ever Given's propulsion system consists of a single low-speed two-stroke diesel engine coupled to a large fixed-pitch propeller. The 11-cylinder straight engine, license-manufactured MitsuiMAN B&W 11G95ME-C9, produces 59,300 kW (79,500 horsepower) at 79 rpm and gives the vessel a service speed of 22.8 knots (42.2 km/h; 26.2 mph).[4] In addition, Ever Given has four straight-8Yanmar 8EY33LW auxiliary diesel generators that produce electricity.[4] For maneuvering in ports, the vessel has two 2,500 kW (3,400 hp) bow thrusters.[4]
Operational history
2019 Hamburg collision
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°01′03″N32°34′49″E / 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".[2][20] The ship ended up with her bow wedged in one bank of the canal and stern nearly touching the other.[21]
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.[2][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]
Aftermath
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 settlement had been lowered to $540 million by the Suez Canal Authority.[38][39] The ship departed from the Suez Canal on 7 July for scheduled deliveries of cargo at several European ports.[40]
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.[41] Hull inspections were carried out, with the vessel finally departing on 12 July, after a seizure delay of more than 100 days.[42]
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
[43]),
22 days after her release by the Egyptian government, and over four months after her grounding;.[44][45][46] She became a tourist attraction during that time.[47] 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.[48][49][50]
She departed 6 August, for refueling at Malta Bunkering Area 3, preceded by Scot Munchen, on 15 August.[51]
During the morning of 20 August, Ever Given transited through the Suez Canal, within a 22-vessel convoy.[52][53][54]
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[55]
to mid-November.[56]
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.[57] 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.[58]
^"長賜輪成功脫困，蘇伊士運河恢復正常通行" [Ever Given successfully released and the Suez Canal resumes normal traffic]. Evergreen Marine. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
^Safi, Michael (29 March 2021). "Suez canal: Ever Given container ship freed after a week". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 March 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2021. [Boskalis] announce that our team of experts, working in close collaboration with the Suez Canal Authority, successfully refloated the Ever Given on 29 March at 15:05 hrs local time, thereby making free passage through the Suez canal possible again
^ abGubash, Charlene; Salam, Yasmine; Duchon, Richie (29 March 2021). "Suez Canal reopened after giant cargo ship successfully refloated". NBC News. Raf Sanchez, Caroline Radnofsky, The Associated Press, and Reuters contributed. Suez, Egypt: NBC Universal. Archived from the original on 29 March 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
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