The Suez Canal in numbers
The Ever Given has blocked the Suez Canal. Image: REUTERS/Ahmed Fahmy
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:
Trade and Investment
- Shipping has been blocked from passing through the Suez Canal after a cargo ship became stranded.
- The Suez Canal first opened for nativgation more than 100 years ago and is a vital route for global trade.
- It saves ships from having to pass around the southern tip of Africa.
The Suez Canal has been thrust into the global spotlight after a cargo ship became stranded, blocking travel through one of the world's most important trade routes in both directions.
The 400-metre long Ever Given, almost as long as the Empire State Building is high, ran aground diagonally across the single-lane stretch of the southern canal on Tuesday morning. It had lost the ability to steer amid high winds and a dust storm, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said in a statement.
Peter Berdowski, CEO of Dutch company Boskalis, which is trying to free the ship, said it was too early to say how long the job might take.
“We can’t exclude it might take weeks, depending on the situation,” Berdowski told the Dutch television programme “Nieuwsuur”.
What is the World Economic Forum doing to help the manufacturing industry rebound from COVID-19?
The incident has caused ships to back-up as they wait to transit through the canal.
Here's a look at the canal in numbers, using figures from the Suez Canal Authority and Reuters.
1869 - The year the canal opened for navigation.
193.3 km - The total length of the canal.
12 to 16 hours - How long it takes a vessel to transit through the canal.
365 - Number of days a year the canal is open for navigation.
313m - The width of the water's surface, although the width of the navigation channel is between 200m and 210m.
Roughly 30% - Percentage of the world's shipping container volume that transits through the canal.
12% - Percentage of total global trade of all goods that passes through the canal.
3,315 nautical miles - Distance saving for a vessel travelling from Tokyo to Rotterdam via the canal rather than via the southern tip of Africa - a 23% saving.
One week - Additional journey time if some firms are forced to re-route ships caught in the delay via the southern tip of Africa.
Don't miss any update on this topic
Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.
License and Republishing
World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
Related topics:
The Agenda Weekly
A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda
You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.
More on Trade and InvestmentSee all
Mingcong Li
October 11, 2024
Patrick McMaster
October 9, 2024
Philippe Isler
October 9, 2024
Jeet Kar
September 25, 2024