Suez blockage causes economic ripples as Syria rations fuel

As global concern mounted over the shipping bottleneck created by a cargo ship wedged in the Suez Canal, Syrians prepared to grapple Sunday with a newly imposed fuel rations tied to the problem.

>> Vivian YeeThe New York Times
Published : 29 March 2021, 02:26 AM
Updated : 29 March 2021, 02:26 AM

The rationing is needed, the Syrian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources said, statement, “in order to guarantee the continued supply of basic services to Syrians such as bakeries, hospitals, water stations, communication centres, and other vital institutions.”

In a statement released late Saturday, the ministry said the blockage of the canal had “hindered the oil supplies to Syria and delayed the arrival of a tanker carrying oil and oil derivations to Syria.”

The ration appeared to be foreshadowing what might occur if salvage crews fail to quickly dislodge the Ever Given, a vast Japanese-owned cargo vessel that went awry on Tuesday, shutting down one of the world’s most critical maritime passageways in both directions.

Tankers laden with oil and natural gas make up just a small part of the traffic that negotiates a course through the canal. Virtually every container ship making the journey from factories in Asia to consumer markets in Europe passes through the channel — or did, until they found their way blocked last week.

Already, shipping analysts estimate, nearly $10 billion in trade is being held up every day.

A flotilla of tugboats in the canal working in concert with an array of heavy equipment along the banks have struggled to free the Empire State Building-length ship, which veered off course in heavy winds en route from Asia to Europe.

There have been signs of hope.

Late Saturday, tugboat drivers sounded their horns in celebration of the most visible sign of progress since the ship ran aground:

The 220,000-ton Ever Given had moved.

Granted, it did not go far — just two degrees, or about 100 feet, according to shipping officials. But that came on top of progress in the days before, when canal officials said dredgers had managed to dig out the rear of the ship, freeing its rudder.

Shipping officials were pinning their hopes on a so-called spring tide forecast for Monday, when exceptionally high water levels might refloat the vessel and allow tugboats to send it on its way.

But the tides were raising fears as well as hopes.

With the Ever Given sagging in the middle, its bow and stern both are caught in positions for which they were not designed. That leaves the hull vulnerable to stress and cracks, according to experts. And so while each high tide offers the promise of release, each low one puts new stresses on the vessel.

On Sunday, the number of tugboats assigned to that arduous task was expected to rise by two, to 13, according to the company that oversees the ship’s operations and crew, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement. Pumps were also working to lighten the vessel by drawing out its water ballast.

On land, several dredgers — including a specialised suction dredger that can extract 2,000 cubic meters of material per hour — were digging around the vessel’s bow, the company said.

On Sunday, as the line of ships waiting to pass through the canal grew to more than 300, the oil rations imposed in Syria were a clear sign of the stakes at play. And in Lebanon, which has already been suffering from more blackouts amid an economic and political crisis in recent months, local media were reporting that the country’s very shaky fuel supply risks further disruption if the blockage continues.

Should Monday’s spring tide not do the trick and help free the trapped vessel, the authorities may have to resort to Plan B, a time-consuming operation in which, one by one, cargo containers, each weighing as much as 40 tons, will need to be hoisted off by crane or heavy-duty helicopter.

Eventually, or so it is hoped, the Ever Given will again do what it was intended to: float.

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