On Tuesday morning, Ever Given, an ultra-large container ship capable of carrying 20,000 TEU, ran aground in the Suez Canal suffering a blackout in high winds during a dust storm. The ship became stuck sideways in the canal blocking both northbound and southbound transit. By Wednesday morning, more than 100 ships were stuck at each end of the canal, which carries roughly 10 percent of worldwide shipping traffic. 

In 2015, the Suez Canal underwent an $8.5 billion expansion to accommodate the ships and to set up two-way traffic headed both north and south — but its owners never envisioned one of those mega-ships blocking the whole route, experts said.
 
“The Egyptian government certainly did not expect the route to be blocked both ways by a single ship,” said Flavio Macau, a supply chain management expert at Edith Cowan University in Australia, in an interview with The Washington Post. “You can call it … karma, bad luck or a lack of engineering oversight.”

Suez Canal tugs worked to free the 400 meter LOA, laden vessel but wind conditions and its size hindered the operation. GAC Hot Port News reported that as of 12:00 local time on Wednesday, the grounded ship had been partially refloated and was alongside the Canal bank. Convoys and traffic are expected to resume as soon as the ship is towed to another location.

Suez Canal blocked after massive container ship Ever Given gets stuck sideways

Thanks to Alaric Bond and David Rye for contributing to this post.