The best part? The ship is called the “Ever Forward.”
Only a week off from the anniversary of the blockage of the Suez Canal, another ship operated by Evergreen Marine Corporation has managed to get itself stuck while transporting cargo.
The Ever Forward (we swear that’s the ship’s name) ran aground outside of Baltimore in Maryland, USA on Sunday night (13 March).
Massive container ship #EVERFORWARD has run aground in the Chesapeake Bay.
Yes, same operator as #EVERGIVEN.
Yes, almost exactly a year later. 1/ pic.twitter.com/z4rCjGSbzR
— John Scott-Railton (@jsrailton) March 14, 2022
The 1,096-foot long ship struck shallow ground while making its way into the port.
Details are unclear at the time of publishing, but it’s believed that the ship missed a turn along a dredged navigation channel while entering the city.
The channel is 51 feet deep to allow for large ships to pass through.
However, outside of the channel, the seabed is only around 24 feet deep, much less than the Ever Forward’s required 45 foot depth.
A Coast Guard spokesperson told the Baltimore Sun that there were “no injuries, pollution concerns or damage to the vessel”.
Luckily, the ship has run aground in an area that will not stop all ships entering the harbour, like the Ever Given did in the Suez Canal in 2021.
The blockage occurred after, supposedly, high winds pushed the ship sideways, wedging it into both banks of the waterway.
However, the chairman for the Canal’s authority did suggest technical or human error could have played a part.
The blockage caused major global delays in trade for over a week in March 2021.
The damage caused by the delay was estimated to be around $1 billion at the time.
Evergreen was asked to pay over $900 million in fees caused by the blockage, although the final number of compensation paid is yet unknown.
There is no timeline yet for when the Ever Forward will be refloated and returned to service.
You can track the progress of the ship via Marine Traffic.
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