![Suez Canal in Egypt, where ship traffic has resumed. [EPA=연합뉴스 자료사진]](https://i0.wp.com/file.mk.co.kr/meet/yonhap/2021/04/05/image_readtop_2021_322040_0_092412.jpg?w=560&ssl=1)
Suez Canal in Egypt, where ship traffic has resumed. [EPA=연합뉴스 자료사진]▶ Click here for a larger view
The congestion of the Suez Canal in Egypt has been released, and the flow of global maritime trade has been completely restored to normal.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 4th (local time), ship operations are rapidly accelerating following the declaration of the Suez Canal Administration (SCA) to clear the canal congestion.
It has been 11 days after the super-large container ship Evergiven blocked the canal on the 23rd of last month, and 5 days since the Evergiven was supported on the 29th of last month.
On the day when the congestion was declared to be resolved, a total of 85 ships passed the canal, including 61 remaining until the last of the 422 ships waiting for the Evergiven to be supported.
Considering that the average daily traffic on the Suez Canal is 40 to 50 vessels, it means that more boats have passed than usual to resolve the congestion.
According to WSJ, many ships that passed through the canal recently flew 8 to 10 knots faster than the maximum speed limit (7.6 to 8.6 knots, about 14 to 16 km per hour).
It is observed that ships have passed the canal faster than before to help resolve congestion.
WSJ added that “shipping all goods, from crude oil and gas to consumer goods and livestock, has been facilitated by resolving congestion.”
The Suez Canal, which contains 14% of international maritime trade volume and 10% of crude oil transported by sea, was blocked, causing great confusion in global commerce.
Shipping information company Lloyd-Rist estimated that transportation of cargo worth $9.6 billion between Asia and Europe every day was delayed due to the congestion of the Suez Canal.
It is also estimated that Egypt, where profits from the Suez Canal accounted for 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) due to tolls before the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) pandemic.
When the Suez Canal was double tracked in 2015, the travel time was cut in half from 22 hours to 11 hours, and the traffic volume also increased sharply.
Accordingly, Egypt’s Suez Canal toll revenue earned in fiscal year 2018-2019 and fiscal year 2019-2020 amounted to $5.8 billion (about 6.6 trillion won) and $5.7 billion (about 6.43 trillion won), respectively. .
Earlier, SCA Commissioner Osama Ravi said he lost 14 million to 15 million dollars a day (about 15.8 billion to 16.9 billion won) as the canal traffic was blocked.
As the canal congestion is resolved, attention now focuses on who will be responsible for the unprecedented situation.
Egypt said it would claim compensation of $1 billion (about 1,129 billion won) in connection with the incident, and has not yet disclosed details such as the subject of the claim.
The AFP news agency pointed out that the Suez Canal congestion worsened the situation while the Corona 19 pandemic caused delays in international transportation.
“There is a discussion that the transportation industry needs to be reformed because of the two incidents,” he said.
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