March 29, 2021 - Update 11
Having received the good news that the Ever Given vessel had been re-floated and on its way to anchorage at the Great Bitter Lake, as well as expecting the canal to be opened for passage within the next 12-24 hours, we have decided to turn around two of our redirected vessel to continue their original route via the Suez Canal.
Find the updates in the tables below.
*Please note that the vessel lists might be subject to change as we continue to divert vessels where possible.
*Waiting at anchorage: vessel has already arrived at Suez while waiting to pass through the canal.
*En route to Suez: vessel has completed operations in previous ports and on their way to Suez.
*Under port rotation: vessel is still under operation in previous ports, after it they shall sail directly towards Suez in case no CoGH diversion decision taken.
*Reinstate Suez: vessel had originally been redirected but now turned and on their way to Suez.
We do not take the decisions of redirections lightly, as straying off course gives a series of ripple effects. Ahmed Bashir, Head of our Global Execution Centres, shares his views on the situation at hand.
Please don't hesitate to contact your local Maersk representative should you have any further questions.
March 29, 2021 - Update 10
We have received confirmation that the Ever Given has been dislodged in the Suez Canal and is now fully floating. It is expected that the vessel will be moved to the Great Bitter Lake with the utmost caution. Once the vessel is safe at anchorage, the vessels currently at anchorage in the lake - three of them Maersk vessels - will sail out of the canal in a convoy. The canal could be opened within the next 12-24 hours, but the current situation remains that the canal is not yet free for passage and we are still not able to share when the canal clean-up is completed, and the canal re-opened for the complete queue of waiting vessels to pass through. We are monitoring the situation closely, as Maersk and partners have 34 vessels at anchorage waiting.
Watch the vessel float in this video from Svitzer, A Maersk strategic brand, as two of their tug boats assist in towing the vessel North.
We have until now 15 redirected vessels around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa and we are currently recalculating if some of these vessels should turn around and continue on their original route. More information will come on this after assessing the current backlog of vessels queueing.
To give you as much visibility into the situation as possible, please see the planned schedule for Maersk and partner vessels for the next two weeks here.
*Please note that the vessel lists might be subject to change as we continue to divert vessels where possible.
*Waiting at anchorage: vessel has already arrived at Suez while waiting to pass through the canal.
*En route to Suez: vessel has completed operations in previous ports and on their way to Suez.
*Under port rotation: vessel is still under operation in previous ports, after it they shall sail directly towards Suez in case no CoGH diversion decision taken.
Please don't hesitate to contact your local Maersk representative should you have any further questions.
*Reinstate Suez: vessel had originally been redirected but now turned and on their way to Suez.
March 29, 2021 - Update 9
Whilst efforts in the Suez Canal continue to dislodge the container ship operated by Evergreen Marine, we have this morning received reports of good progress overnight. After several days with dredging and excavation, the Ever Given ship has been partly refloated. It is not yet fully dislodged and it is too early to say when the Suez Canal will be cleared for operations again, but we are monitoring the situation closely. A new advisory will be issued later today when we have more information.
Currently Maersk and partners have three vessels stuck in the canal and 30 vessels waiting to enter the canal, with more expected to reach the blockage today. We have until now redirected 15 vessels around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. These decisions were made close to the point of no return and it is expected that they will continue via the south of Africa, also to reduce the number of vessels in the queue. Assessing the current backlog of vessels, it could take 6 days or more for the complete queue to pass, conditional to safety and other operational circumstances. As more vessels either reach the blockage or is redirected, this is an estimate and is subject to change.
To give you as much visibility into the situation as possible, please see the planned schedule for Maersk and partner vessels for the next two weeks here.
*Please note that the vessel lists might be subject to change as we continue to divert vessels where possible.
*Waiting at anchorage: vessel has already arrived at Suez while waiting to pass through the canal.
*En route to Suez: vessel has completed operations in previous ports and on their way to Suez.
*Under port rotation: vessel is still under operation in previous ports, after it they shall sail directly towards Suez in case no CoGH diversion decision taken.
Even when the canal gets reopened, the ripple effects on global capacity and equipment are significant and the blockage has already triggered a series of further disruptions and backlogs in global shipping that could take weeks, possibly months, to unravel. Your supply chain is of the utmost concern to us and we are closely following the refloating operations and will do our utmost to mitigate the impact as best as we can.
Please don't hesitate to contact your local Maersk representative should you have any further questions.
March 28, 2021 - Update 8
The Suez Canal passage continues to be blocked in both directions. Whilst efforts continue to dislodge the container ship operated by Evergreen Marine, numbers show that over 300 ships are now waiting at anchorage to pass through the canal. Currently Maersk and partners have three vessels stuck in the canal and 27 vessels waiting to enter the canal, with two more expected to reach the blockage today. We have until now redirected 15 vessels around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. Watch this video with the head of our global execution centre where he talks about some of the factors that play into these mitigation decisions.
To give you as much visibility into the situation as possible, please see the planned schedule for Maersk and partner vessels for the next two weeks here.
*Please note that the vessel lists might be subject to change as we continue to divert vessels where possible.
*Waiting at anchorage: vessel has already arrived at Suez while waiting to pass through the canal.
*En route to Suez: vessel has completed operations in previous ports and on their way to Suez.
*Under port rotation: vessel is still under operation in previous ports, after it they shall sail directly towards Suez in case no CoGH diversion decision taken.
Please note that you can use our interactive map functionality to track any Maersk vessel in real time and gain access to AI-powered predictive analysis and estimated times of arrival (ETA) via our Hub. Click here to login in.
For every day the canal remains blocked, the ripple effects on global capacity and equipment continues to increase and the blockage triggers a series of further disruptions and backlogs in global shipping that could take months to unravel, even after the canal is reopened. Redirecting vessels also mean that these vessels will be missing somewhere else during that time, leading to further shortage in the market.
We see it as our utmost priority to mitigate this where we can and have in certain areas already started to proactively manage our capacity will not be accepting cargo where we cannot ensure space. Our partners are also looking into the impacts on flows in our hubs and key terminals, trying to avoid flooding of cargo if it can't be loaded onboard a vessel.
For the immediate term we also anticipate higher short-term (or spot) rates, with vessels being delayed this week and missing in the system. However long-term it will not continue as volumes will go down. At the current time we do not expect this to change the overall prospects for the year towards a normalisation.
Throughout this process we aim to give as much clarity and notice as possible. We are all in this situation together and everyone needs to collaborate towards mitigating the situation, for instance working to return equipment faster.
While out of our control, we apologize for the inconvenience this incident may cause to your business in a time where certain industries are already stretched due to the pandemic. Businesses reliant on just in time supply chains risk having to reproduce or resort to flying in essential components and for critical shipments we recommend that you reach out to your local sales representative for dialogues and quotations on alternative solutions for urgent cargo that is still at origin or elsewhere.
Please don't hesitate to contact your local Maersk representative should you have any further questions. Recognising the weekend and working hours, please find a FAQ below aiming to answer your most immediate questions.
March 28, 2021 - Update 7
The Suez Canal passage continues to be blocked in both directions. Whilst efforts continue to dislodge the container ship operated by Evergreen Marine, numbers show that over 300 ships are now waiting at anchorage to pass through the canal. There is a steady inflow of vessels reaching the canal and the effects of the redirected vessels from global carriers is not yet reflected in the queue. Currently we (Maersk and partners) have three vessels stuck in the canal and 27 vessels waiting to enter the canal, with two more expected to reach the blockage today.
To give you as much visibility into the situation as possible, please see the planned schedule for Maersk and partner vessels for the next two weeks here.
*Please note that the vessel lists might be subject to change as we continue to divert vessels where possible.
*Waiting at anchorage: vessel has already arrived at Suez while waiting to pass through the canal.
*En route to Suez: vessel has completed operations in previous ports and on their way to Suez.
*Under port rotation: vessel is still under operation in previous ports, after it they shall sail directly towards Suez in case no CoGH diversion decision taken.
We have until now redirected 15 vessels where we deemed the delay of sailing around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa equal to the current delay of sailing to Suez and queuing. We do not expect to redirect any further ships during the weekend based on this analysis. New calculations on redirecting additional vessels will be made Monday considering the weekends' salvage attempts.
While ETAs are jeopardized, it is too early to indicate the delay as we are doing our utmost to mitigate this. Please note that you can use our interactive map functionality to track any Maersk vessel in real time and gain access to AI-powered predictive analysis and estimated times of arrival (ETA) via our Hub. Click here to login to the Hub.
While out of our control, we apologize for the inconvenience this incident may cause to your business and for critical shipments we recommend that you reach out to your local sales representative for dialogues and quotations on alternative solutions, such as air and rail for urgent cargo that is still at origin or elsewhere.