Suez Canal Steps Up Efforts to Remove Blockage, Shipping Rates Surge

CAIRO, March 26 — The Suez Canal stepped up efforts on Friday to free a stuck mega vessel, after an earlier attempt failed to end a blockage that has lifted shipping rates for fuel tankers and disrupted global supply chains for everything from grains to baby clothes.

Shipping rates for oil product tankers have nearly doubled after the 400-meter (430-yard) long Ever Given ran aground in the vital trade waterway on Tuesday due to strong wind.

Efforts to free it may take weeks and be complicated by unstable weather, threatening costly delays for companies already dealing with COVID-19 restrictions.

All its 25 crew members, who have remained on board, were safe, in good health and spirits, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), the Ever Given’s technical manager said.

The Dutch rescue team had confirmed that two additional tugs would arrive on March 28 to help dislodge the ship after an attempt to re-float it on Friday failed, BSM said.

“There have been no reports of pollution or cargo damage and initial investigations rule out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the grounding,” a BSM statement said.

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said efforts to free the ship by tug would resume as soon as dredging operations at its bow to remove 20,000 cubic meters of sand are complete.

“In addition to the dredgers already on site a specialized suction dredger is now with the vessel and will shortly begin work. This dredger can shift 2,000 cubic meters of material every hour,” said.

The SCA said it welcomed a U.S. offer to help. Turkey also said it can send a vessel to the canal, amid a recent push by Ankara to repair ties with Egypt after years of animosity.

The suspension of traffic through the narrow channel that links Europe and Asia has deepened problems for shipping lines that were already facing coronavirus-related disruptions in supplying retail goods to consumers.

The blockage could cost global trade $6 billion to $10 billion a week, a study by German insurer Allianz showed on Friday.

Ratings agency Moody’s expects Europe’s manufacturing and car parts suppliers to be most affected because they operate “just-in-time” supply chains.

“Even if the situation is resolved within the next 48 hours, port congestion and further delays to an already constrained supply chain is inevitable,” it said in a statement.

About two dozen ships could be seen from the shores of Port Said on Friday morning, according to a Reuters witness.

Oil prices rose over 3% on Friday as more than 30 oil tankers have been waiting on either side of the canal since Tuesday, shipping data on Refinitiv showed.

However, the delays come at a time of low seasonal demand for crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), which will likely mitigate the impact on prices, analysts said.

Data intelligence firm Kpler said 10 crude oil tankers were awaiting entry to the canal. About 4 million barrels of mostly Kazakh CPC Blend and some Russian Urals were waiting along with tankers carrying Libyan, Azeri and some North Sea crude oil for Asian refiners, traders said.

Egypt’s SUMED pipeline operator quickly approached crude traders to see whether they wanted to book space in the system but so far, traders prefer to wait to avoid high additional costs.

Analysts expect a greater price impact on smaller tankers carrying oil products, like naphtha and fuel oil, for export from Europe to Asia, if the canal remains shut for weeks.

“Around 20% of Asia’s naphtha is supplied by the Mediterranean and Black Sea via the Suez Canal,” said Sri Paravaikkarasu, director for Asia oil at FGE, adding that re-routing ships around the Cape of Good Hope could add about two weeks and extra fuel costs to the voyage.

The blockage is weighing on the already weak Asian gasoil, or diesel, market. More than 60% of Asian exports to the west flowed via the choked Canal in 2020, according to FGE.

“Aframax and Suezmax rates in the Mediterranean have also reacted first as the market starts to price in fewer vessels being available in the region,” shipbroker Braemar ACM Shipbroking said.

At least four Long-Range 2 tankers that might have been headed towards Suez from the Atlantic basin are now likely to be evaluating a passage around the Cape of Good Hope, Braemar ACM said. Each LR-2 tanker can carry around 75,000 tonnes of oil.

The cost of shipping clean products, such as gasoline and diesel, from the Russian port of Tuapse on the Black Sea to southern France jumped 73% over the last three days to $2.58 a barrel on March 25, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

The shipping index benchmark for LR2 vessels from the Middle East to Japan, known as TC1, has climbed by a third since last week to 137.5 worldscale points, said Anoop Jayaraj, clean tanker broker at Fearnleys Singapore. Worldscale is an industry tool used to calculate freight rates.

On the crude side, traders have had to pay 10-20% more for replacement tankers but market freight rates have not yet risen as charterers are not ready to commit to higher levels in case the container is freed this weekend, shipbrokers said.

About the photo: This photo released by the Suez Canal Authority on Thursday, March 25, 2021, shows the Ever Given, a Panama-flagged cargo ship, after it become wedged across the Suez Canal and blocking traffic in the vital waterway. An operation is underway to try to work free the ship wedged across Egypt’s Suez Canal, which further imperiled global shipping Thursday as at least 150 other vessels needing to pass through the crucial waterway idled waiting for the obstruction to clear. (Suez Canal Authority via AP)