While the tugs have succeeded in putting the “Ever Given” back in position to sail, the bill for the congestion created by the capsizing of the vessel in the Suez Canal is likely to be steep.
It is a low-cost operation. The return to service of the vessel "Ever Given", which was immobilized for six days in the middle of the Suez Canal, should ultimately cost less than expected. "Accidents involving large container ships can result in property claims of more than $ XNUMX billion," says financial rating agency Fitch.
But the latter specifies that the losses for insurers, concerning this event, "could easily reach hundreds of millions of euros". The insurance sector will find it difficult to emerge unscathed from this blockage.
If, fortunately, “Ever Given should still be able to travel once released,” resulting in hull and cargo insurance claims rather in the lower end of the range, Fitch Ratings predicts a reduction in “global reinsurers' revenues, while marine reinsurance prices will increase further ”.
8,1 billion euros of goods per day
In addition to the insurance industry, it is a whole section of the global economy that has been drinking for six days. Asked by Libre Eco, the CEO of the port of Antwerp Jacques Vandermeiren indicates that the traffic jam created by the container ship “Ever Given” represented a shortfall of “350 million euros per hour”. In fact, the specialist journal Lloyd's List estimates the daily freight freight on the canal at 8,1 billion euros.
However, with this capsize, traffic was paralyzed for six days. The shortfall could therefore reach 50 billion euros, or even 60 billion, just for the past week. Trade on the Suez Canal represents nearly 12% of international maritime trade.
A simple blockage of a few days therefore affected the entire planet. If ships will be able to use the seaway again very soon, the bill is soaring.
The results are in any case quantifiable: 50 ships were prevented daily from crossing the channel connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. Last Monday, no less than 425 boats were stuck. The traffic jam continued over the following days. According to specialists, it will take another three days for traffic to return to normal. In this period of economic crisis, not sure that this capsize goes unnoticed.