The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) today temporarily suspended navigation on the critical waterway, while efforts to refloat a stuck giant container ship are ongoing.
The 400m-long Ever Given is still blocking the Canal, after running aground on a northbound passage at 07:40 local time (05:40 GMT) on 23 March.
The Suez Canal is a critical chokepoint for oil and gas movements. At least five Suezmaxes carrying crude and two Suezmaxes carrying high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) are waiting at Port Said. There is also one Long Range 1 (LR1) tanker and one Long Range 2 (LR2) carrying naphtha, and one Aframax with a fuel oil cargo. A Medium Range (MR) tanker carrying fuel oil also appears to be waiting at Bitter Lake, according to shipping data.
Navigation should resume when the Ever Given is refloated, SCA said, but it is unclear when this will be. Japanese shipowner Shoei Kisen, which owns the giant container ship, described the situation as "extremely difficult".
The uncertainty around the reopening of the waterway could prompt some charterers to ship their crude and oil products cargoes via the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope, which would increase freight costs. But going around the Cape is significantly longer and charterers might opt to wait for the blockage to be cleared instead.
