Suez Canal- World’s Busiest Trade Route Blocked – Free PDF Download

What has happened?

• Dozens of vessels are stuck after a giant container ship became wedged across Egypt’s Suez Canal, one of the world’s busiest trade routes.

• Ever Given ran aground and became lodged sideways across the waterway at about 07:40 local time

About the ship

• The Ever Given 200,000 tonne ship, built in 2018 and operated by Taiwanese transport company Evergreen Marine.
• But it is registered in Panama, was bound for the port city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands from China and was passing northwards through the canal on its way to the Mediterranean.
• It is 400m long – the length of four football pitches – & 59m-wide.

What exactly happened to the ship?

• Evergreen Marine said the ship was “suspected of being hit by a sudden strong wind, causing the hull to deviate… and accidentally hit the bottom and run aground”.
• Egyptian forecasters said high winds and a sandstorm hit the area on Tuesday, with winds gusting as much as 31 mph.

So what is being done?

• The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said it was working to refloat the giant ship, using rescue and tug units. Eight tugboats were working to free the vessel.
• Its chairman, Admiral Osama Rabie, also said they had reopened an older section of the canal to ease the bottleneck of marine traffic caused by the incident.

Past occurrences

• In 2017, a Japanese container vessel blocked the canal after it ran aground following reported mechanical issues.
• The Egyptian authorities deployed tug boats and the ship was refloated within hours.
• A more serious incident occurred near the German port of Hamburg in 2016 when the massive CSCL Indian Ocean ran aground and needed 12 tugs to set it free after five days.

• The Suez canal is one of the most important waterways in the world and links the Mediterranean with the Red Sea and shipping lanes to Asia.
• Nearly 19,000 ships passed through the canal in 2020, according to the Suez Canal Authority – an average of 5 ships per day.
• About 12% of global trade passes through the Suez Canal

Q) Which of the following statements regarding Kaveri River is correct?

1. It receives rainfall during both Northeast & Southwest monsoon.
2. Majority of Kaveri basin lies in Tamil Nadu.
3. Kabini is important tributary of Kaveri.

1. 1 & 2 only
2. 2 & 3 only
3. 1 & 3 only
4. All of the above

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