The authorities of Panama, the flag country of tanker Ever Given, have opened an investigation into the accident that took the ship to on Wednesday block the Suez Canal. So far, we only know that the boat - owned by the Taiwanese company Evergreen - went off course due to a wind and sand storm, rotated on itself until it got sideways and ran aground, closing the passage .
This morning the transit has resumed only partially, through the historic branch of the Canal, inaugurated in 1869 in Egypt and built with the fundamental contribution of some Italian engineers. Meanwhile, tugboats and excavators are still at work trying to free the Panamanian tanker, 60 meters high and wide, like a 20-storey building, and about 400 meters long, more than the Empire State Building.
The economic relevance of the case is of the first level. From the Suez Canal it passes 30% of the world's container ships and the infrastructure is decisive for approx 10% of global trade by sea. It will take days to get the Ever Given back on the water and unblock the Canal and the fears for the supply have already taken place increase the price of oil by 5%.. However, the risk is that the accident will have serious repercussions on the entire world trade, already tried by the pandemic.
The Suez Canal has been enlarged relatively recently: the inauguration of the expansion – a pharaonic ceremony presided over by the Egyptian despot, General al Sisi – dates back to 2015. It is a decisive infrastructure, because it allows avoiding the passage from the Cape of Good Hope, or the circumnavigation of Africa, putting the Mediterranean Sea in direct communication with the Red Sea and thus drastically shortening the journey times of what was once known as Way of India.
