The Suez Canal is a major bit of infrastructure, and it has been out of commission for most of a week. The Scottish Sun - Suez Canal: Fears UK prices will soar as Ever Given blocks trading route - just before Brits can go to shops again.
Lars Jensen, chief executive of Sea-Intelligence Consulting, told the Daily Mirror that the delay would cause a “ripple effect” with increased freight costs and freight times.
He said: “Even if the canal was to open tomorrow it would cause months of shipping delays.
European ports can handle a total of about 50,000 containers a day. The canal has been blocked since March 23rd. So that freight is backing up. And it will take a while for that backlog to clear, once the canal is open.
The economic impact is immense. Washington Post - Hopes for blocked Suez Canal hinge on rising tide potentially freeing ship
The potential for a full-blown economic calamity was palpable — the canal is a vital global portal, carrying 13 percent of all global trade via ships ferrying $9.5 billion in goods each day.
That includes everything from IKEA furniture to oil for the European market.
The WaPo article mentions that there is an astronomically high tide on the 29th, but gives no details. That is because tides are higher than normal (slightly higher) during the full moon and the dark of the moon. The next high tide will happen at 11:42 AM, local time, and it will be 6.82 ft (2.08 m) above mean sea-level.
UPDATE: Suez Canal Ship Is Free - The New York Times
Salvage teams, working on land and water for six days and nights, were ultimately assisted by forces more powerful than any machine rushed to the scene: the moon and the tides.
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