It was on Tuesday that the Ever Given container ship operated by Taiwanese company Evergreen Marine got wedged across the Suez Canal, the 193-kilometer-long, 200-meter-wide artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt. Even after six days, the 400-meter-long vessel is still stuck across the canal, and as a result, hundreds of ships on either side are now stranded in the waters. Suez Canal links the Mediterranean and Red Seas through Egypt, and it is the shortest sea route between Asia and Europe.
Technical or human error behind grounding
Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chairman Osama Rabie told Reuters that the ship could slide and move from its spot anytime, and he also made it clear that water had started running underneath the ship. He also suggested that technical or human errors could be the reason behind the unexpected grounding of the ship.
In an attempt to move the ship, dredgers removed as much as 20,000 tonnes of sand from around the ship's bow, and authorities believe that the shop will start moving possibly by next week.
Suez Canal blockade similar to traffic jam in India
As several ships from both the side are waiting for the grounded vessel to move, netizens have started comparing the scenario with traffic jams in Indian metropolitan cities like Bengaluru and Mumbai, where vehicles used to get stranded for hours.
Calling Suez Canal, the new Bengaluru, netizens have started trolling the authorities in the city for not taking adequate measures to combat the rising traffic jams.
Sanofer KH, a Samsung employee told IB Times, India that the blockade in Suez is nowhere near to the traffic jam that happens in Silk Board on a daily basis.
"I feel really happy now. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, I could work from my home, and it helped me to escape from the ordeal caused by Bengaluru traffic," said Sreejith, a Bengaluru-based software engineer.
I can totally imagine this happening to a BMTC bus in Bangalore, IRL. Suez Canal has got nothing on our potholed roads! https://t.co/srhaPm2FuH
— Mohamed Zeeshan (@ZeeMohamed_) March 26, 2021
They should have 1000s of Bangalore Auto rickshaws transport goods. Most auto drivers will look at that space and say "Alli rightu'la nodi, sikkabittu jagaa idhe... Hogi, hogi!!"#Suez #SuezBLOCKED #Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/doKhWub71U
— Gautham (@engeetham) March 27, 2021