+ Suez Transit Dossier and Musings +
If i was crafty and timely, woulda shared these snaps a few weeks when Ever Given was blocking up the flow of the Suez Canal (yeah you saw this…) i had/have a lot to say about it all and well, lot of more important things to do (nursery school!) so just didn’t get to it, but today is now, so:
Quick annotations:
- Suez isn’t “squared off” with tidy concrete walls and locks
- Was dug mostly by hand/buckets
- Ships assemble caravans at either end and go very slow
- Winds are weird (really) which makes mishaps not shocking and coordination important.
- Don’t start with the Egyptian pilots!
Let’s begin our transit in the “staging area”… (note captions and annotations)
Local Traffic amongst the behemoths
Importantly, the canal is active with local ferries darting back and forth between lumbering giants. The sides are so close you can wave to folks (of course i did) and the ships in-front/behind are also so close and don’t have brakes.
Japan <> Egypt Friendship aka Peace (and other names) bridge
Didn’t know about this bridge before approaching it and thought immediately how similar it looked to the bridge is going to Japanese island of Shikoku across inland sea. Later realized indeed this is a Japanese built bridge although the name has changed a few times to reflect certain political figures and notions: Peace Bridge, Al Salam Bridge, Mubarak Bridge. A few views:
Along the banks, life carries on…
Along the banks are towns, cities, Mosques, statutes, military bases, check points, flags and “life” as per epochs
Navigational Conundrums
The canals has curves and turns and wind shears across desert in gusts hitting massive ships broadside at unpredictable angles – In other words, really surprising that sorta incident doesn’t happen more often.
Sometimes when the canal is “2 lane” you can see smoke stacks of ships on the other channel.
Well might as well add a satellite grab for a bit of context, you can see the 2 channel section, the aforementioned bridge (highway 40), the ferry docks, and yup the lil rectangles in the canal are obv ships (click click)
Lawyers and other Suits
BTW, the insurance companies and other representative’s of the ship’s owner (Japanese), lessee (Taiwanese), flag-country (Panama) and goods holders (everywhere) and underwriters / re-insurers (UK), oh plus the Egyptian canal authority (they have a FB page! – don’t read the comments) are gonna be squabbling for years and buying boats for a lot of lawyers.
Ever Given is still in Great Bitter Lake (late April 2021) as i understand – fully laden and awaiting resolution of at least 1 round of fines and whatnot. Have a heart for the crew (only about a dozen on that massive ship) who are well, just *there* and can’t send remittance to family (likely in Philippines, Indonesia or maybe India). Not easy times.
Update: Suez Canal authority has given permission for the crew to leave as long as they are replaced with sufficient to ensure safety – does not mean they are permitted to remain in Egypt or anyone is paying for them to travel and quarantine somewhere… – but captain must remain on board as custodial representative.
Aside: Funniest was all the “advice” from folks about how to re-stuck the ship, oh wait, the really funniest was people whining that gonna impact their fidget spinner or whatever shipment from Chin-mazon.
Anyhow, felt a like Richie Tenenbaum transiting the canal somehow.
Questions etc
When?: Somewhere in the “lost years” I get a bit confused but 2017 I think.
More?: I did a lot of poetry writing and ambient soundscapes recordings on a long trip from Nepal to Turkey by various forms of transportation (avoiding pirates).
So there i was… transiting the Suez canal by ship – no i wasn’t at the helm but i did make a podcast about disappearing to sea – you should totally listen via “Postcards from Gravelly Beach” channel to take you on the space cruise: Listening to Sea – Postcard #74
Geo-geekery?: Yes, Suez Canal: Satellite Clues on a Stricken Cargo Ship
More Asides
Also 1: did you know that in the 1960s the US had a plan to make another Canal to the east through “more friendly” territory by designating 40+ nuclear bombs underground? Way faster than digging right!
Also 2: frequently the idea is floated to dig a canal sharp west from Red Sea to Nile and transport goods by barge via the Nile (which naturally flows south to north) to the Mediterranean. Old time Egyptians did something similar / remnants of old canal remain…
Re-cap
I have more to say about how surprising there aren’t more incidents of groundings, collisions & other occurrences (& there are more piracy incidents than are widely reported through strait & more unique precautions than i expected).
Regardless this is me dropping a few fuzzy memories in glen plaid from a chilly desert morning watching bustle, bridges & history roll by at 25 knots (give or take).
Thinking more about the weary workers stuck on ships months at a time without port call to send remittances back to eager families than i am about delay of fidget spinners etc shipped from Cathay.
So much more than expected. Thanks for coming with me.
