The Ever Given ship ran aground in the southern part of the Suez Canal, Egypt, on March 26, 2021. (Photo: AFP/VNA) The Ever Given ship is no longer blocking the Suez Canal, but the story doesn’t end there with companies embroiled in a lengthy legal battle related to the event, hoping to “save” it. goods worth hundreds of millions of dollars are still being held on this ship for months. IKEA and Lenovo are two of many companies whose goods were detained on board the Ever Given after the ship was stranded at the airport. Suez Canal for six days in March. Many smaller companies such as the British bicycle manufacturer Pearson 1860 and Snuggy UK also had many important orders stuck on this ship. An Egyptian court has detained the Ever Given and its 18,300 containers after the Suez Canal Authority filed its first petition against the ship’s owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha of Japan, for 916 compensation. million USD for damages and losses caused by the above incident. Therefore, the Ever Given ship and all its cargo are being held at Great Bitter Lake in the canal during the aforementioned legal battle. Many companies have products on ship Ever Given said they were completely unaware of the status of the goods while the proceedings were ongoing, and were not involved in the negotiations surrounding the release of the goods. Even if the parties reach an agreement, these companies or their insurance companies may still be liable for some part of the award. Companies may be forced to spend money under the “General average” clause in international maritime law, under which the parties involved in a shipping voyage are forced to share the costs proportionally if there is a loss. happening. Clyde & Co., a law firm representing companies and insurers with more than $100 million worth of cargo stranded on the Ever Given ship, estimates the total value of the cargo on board at between 600-700 million dollars./.

On May 18, he decided to stand out and cook about 400 servings of rice, giving it to people in need in the area. Because it was a spontaneous action, he announced on his personal page, asked his relatives to notify the worker’s accommodation so that everyone could know. Mr. Nguyen Van Tu (gray shirt) carried out the activity of cooking rice and giving gifts to workers in the blockade area. “I used to run a restaurant business, so the utensils or the kitchen were available. However, the money for the materials was all paid for by me,” Tu told Zing. Hearing about the meaningful activity, some neighbors, friends and relatives also came to help the owner of the restaurant. From 5am, people started to prepare a large amount of vegetables, meat and fish and then cook to deliver rice at around 10am. Unexpectedly, 400 meals prepared by Mr. Tu and everyone were quickly distributed on the first day. Even, because he was a bit “overwhelmed”, he planned to take a break on May 19, waiting for the next day to continue, when many calls and messages asking for help returned, making him unable to bear it. “Many workers are very guilty. They are people from other provinces to work, do not have relatives here. The urgent blockade has put many people in difficult situations, some people say that the past few days have been full of instant noodles except for meals. “. Also after the first meal, some benefactors knew about the activity, so they donated some money and materials to help Mr. Tu. The dishes are divided into boxes with hot rice and distributed to everyone. On the second day of the activity, his group cooked a record of 850 servings, divided into 2 meals, 600 in the morning, 250 in the afternoon. Everyone cooked whatever they wanted, braised meat, fried vegetables, fried beans, fish sauce… about 20 The dishes are neatly arranged, full on the table waiting to be divided with rice. Because the locality is implementing social distancing, Tu also recommends that people limit concentration and arrange for a time slot to distribute meals for each area. He also asked the representatives of the innkeepers to come pick up meals and distribute them to the workers. “Sometimes when the rice ran out, but there were still people texting asking for food, I took the rest of the noodles from the restaurant for everyone, hoping to help them through the meal.” Unable to do business since the implementation of social distancing, Mr. Tu’s source of income has also been greatly affected. Therefore, even though he has a heart, he is afraid that he will not be able to continue the rice donation activity for too long. He plans to maintain it for the next few days, prioritizing those who have not been received in the past 2 days and then counting. “Being able to help people, even if I’m hungry for 1 or 2 days, I’m very happy. Most of the people and workers here are still struggling, not many people have savings to manage in such a situation. Hopefully, the epidemic will soon be pushed back so that everyone can return to their old rhythms,” he expressed.

This is good news for the whole world, because the Suez Canal is a vital maritime route for international trade. But during the nearly 1 week of being trapped, how great of the damage has you caused, are you curious? Let’s take a look at some prominent numbers, to see how sensitive the world economy is in fact. Huge numbers The Ever Given is a super ship of over 400 meters long, weighs more than 220,000 tons, can carry a maximum of 20,000 containers. At the time of jam, the ship was carrying a total of 18,300 containers. The ship is operated by shipping company Evergreen Marine based in Taiwan (China), and is among the largest in the world. The ship has been stranded since March 23 while entering the Suez Canal from the Red Sea. After hitting the shore, it ran aground and turned sideways, blocking the canal. Initially, it was thought that the wind was too strong, but the SCA believes this is not the only reason. More investigation will be needed to find out whether the main cause is technical or human impact. And also because of the jam that alone on Sunday (March 28), there are about 369 ships waiting at both ends of the canal, waiting for the time to pass the 193km long route, although it is unknown when. Run with time Over the weekend, 14 tugboats were mobilized to pull Ever Given out of the strand. Thanks to this, it has rotated “slightly” about 30 degrees. On March 29, after the media reported that the ship had begun to re-float, the SCA announced that Ever Given was completely rescued. According to the SCA, they will keep the ship operating during high tide – a condition required to put the ship back in the middle of the route and clear the canal. Some small boats have begun to move, but others will have to wait a long time, said Richard Mead, chief executive of shipping company Lloyd’s List. “We are seeing about 450 ships waiting to cross the canal. It will take quite a while to resolve this congestion.” Scary damage 12% of world trade, about 1 million barrels of oil and 8% of liquefied natural gas – those are the numbers the Canal is responsible for each day. According to SCA President Osama Rabie, the canal’s revenue lost between 14 million and 15 million dollars per day. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, maritime operations through the Suez Canal contributed up to 2 percent of Egypt’s GDP. Meanwhile, data from Lloyd’s List shows that the damage from the congestion is estimated at around $ 9.6 billion a day – $ 400 million per hour, and $ 6.7 million per minute. Looking at the bigger picture, global trade suffers losses ranging from $ 6 billion to $ 10 billion a week, according to insurance company Allianz. At the same time, the trade growth decreased by 0.2% to 0.4%. The cost of chartering a ship from Asia to the Middle East increased by 47%, to $ 2.2 million. Some shipping lines have chosen to detour to avoid the Suez Canal – such as through Cape Hao Vong. This means that travel times, costs and fuel will also increase, affecting a wide variety of industries – from retail, supermarkets to manufacturers around the world. The exact amount of damage is really difficult to calculate until the canal is fully cleared and the trade continues. Many UK companies have said they are still waiting to know when the goods will arrive. Some even have stock right on the ship Ever Given. Although the ship was freed, some expressed concern as the canal was still congested. Many companies even think of using air for transportation, which means the cost will be tripled. Perhaps, it is very rare that the world has seen such a tremendous impact from a stranded ship. Source: BBC

Before the ship was successfully rescued, the photo became the raw material for netizens to create photos around the trapped Panama flag super ship. The excavator becomes small when standing next to the ship Ever Given. Photo: Reuters. Mission Impossible Abdelgawad, 26, is an excavator worker working in the Suez Canal, earning about $ 190 a month. At 7:00 a.m. on March 23 (local time), he started the shift as usual. However, the entrance to the workplace was locked and no one was allowed in. “I asked the security guard and he said there was a ship stuck in the canal,” said Abdelgawad. Later, he and his colleagues returned to the workers’ lodging in the al-Arbain area, about a 30-minute drive from the workplace. An hour later, Abdelgawad received a call from his manager, asking him to quickly go to the east bank of the Suez Canal. A car from the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) was waiting outside the door. “I told the manager I could not enter the work area because it seemed a boat was stuck in the canal. He told me that I would go there for the sake of this ship, ”said the 26-year-old excavator driver. “When I got there, I saw that the excavator had been loaded onto the truck so that I could get closer to the bow. Going more than 1 kilometer, my heart started beating hard “. “SCA engineers told me about the incident. With 8 years of experience working in the canal, I realized that perhaps it was necessary to suck up all the mud and sand clinging to the bottom of the boat and dig deep from both sides of the ship because the bow was buried deeply in the sand, ”said Abdelgawad. Under this option, the excavator would have to dig more than 15 m deep, while the dredging ships would have to suck up all of the sediment that clinging to underneath so that the ship floated again. The Ever Given was trapped in the middle of the Suez Canal. Photo: Getty. Real life hero Abdelgawad, alone, diligently steered the excavator through the layers of sand under the giant ship. He worked non-stop until the afternoon of March 24, when someone else came to replace him. During 5 consecutive days, he only rested for 3-4 hours per day. “I sat in the excavator and looked up, the ship popped up like a skyscraper. When I started the engine, my heart beat the hardest. Everyone was worried about me for working right underneath my baby. Such a giant ship is extremely dangerous, “said Abdelgawad. “I was scared, but still determined to continue. I’m just worried that if something unfortunate happens, how will my father and family live. He only has me as a boy, the rest are two sisters, “he said. Abdelgawad poses next to the excavator. Photo: Abdelgawad. “The sediment layer crumbles into pieces both on the surface and settles down to form very large sediments. If the ship is tilted to a certain degree, me and the little excavator will be crushed by it. I felt like a soldier in real battle, ”said Abdelgawad. On the side of the Abdelgawad family, they kept calling the excavator crew to inquire about his situation every day. Meanwhile, many people have posted photos of the single excavator standing next to the giant super ship Ever Given on social networks and accompanied by ridicule. “They posted it online and laughed at the excavator and I, tacitly said that all my efforts were hopeless. I felt very sad, but I quickly forgot about it with the efforts of the entire rescue team. has been paid back. The ship re-floated on March 29. ” “I captured that great moment and posted it on Facebook. It felt like I had won a war,” said Abdelgawad. Returning to the small village of Danjwan, located on the outskirts of Shirbin city (Daqhaliyah province) Abdelgawad is greeted as a hero. The villagers shouted his name and celebrated. “I know that I have done something great for the country. My dad said he was very proud of me. My life has changed completely, ”said the 26-year-old man.

Abdullah Abdul-Gawad and the “tiny” excavator. Photo: BI

But what happened five days later is quite the opposite.

Ever Given – a container ship the size of a skyscraper was stranded on the banks of the canal on March 23. And Abdul-Gawad’s boss immediately called him to the scene.

“We need you to get in the car and come now because you are the only excavator driver nearby,” the leader told the 28-year-old male employee, who has been driving the excavator since college.

Abdul-Gawad vs “monster”

Liberating Ever Given was a combined effort, with winch, tugboat and excavator. But Abdul-Gawad was the one who really faced the problem. Once at the base of the ship, Abdul-Gawad had no choice but to start digging.

According to his estimates, the bow of Ever Given was stuck below about 6 meters of ground. The stern is also caught on the opposite shore. The ship blocked the Suez Canal, blocking all traffic.

The image of a tiny excavator facing a giant ship made many people laugh. But for Abdul-Gawad the situation is much less humorous. It is really dangerous.

The dreadful contrast between the size of the Ever Given ship and the size of Abdul-Gawad’s excavator. Photo: BI

Taking on the task of shoveling to release the bow, just a small mistake by Abdul-Gawad could cause the ship carrying tens of thousands of containers to collapse.

“I was afraid that the ship would be too tilted on one side or the other. If it leans on me, goodbye the excavator, goodbye Abdul-Gawad.

If you see the contrast between the size of the ship and the size of the excavator, you will find it very frightening. ”

Two other excavators were dispatched to the scene a few days later, but the drivers were too scared to do what Abdul-Gawad was doing. Instead, they were just sticking around clearing the rock that Abdul-Gawad dug.

21 hours / day

Wearing thin flip flops, Abdul-Gawad undertook digging for hours. When the tugs are active, Abdul-Gawad will receive a radio signal to temporarily retreat away.

“But you know, until I dig 5 or 6 meters, there’s still no movement.”

Photo: BI

When pictures of Abdul-Gawad’s excavator began to appear on the Internet, he said he felt as if “people were just making fun of me.”

“And that’s what made me more determined. I think, you’re making fun of me so I’ll prove I can do this. ”

Abdul-Gawad said that for several days, he and his colleagues were only allowed to rest at a barracks of border guards nearby.

“They know that if we go home, we won’t be back in about eight or nine hours,” he said.

Abdul-Gawad and his colleagues only slept about three hours a night. One day, only one hour of sleep.

Success

On March 25, a dedicated dredger – Mashhour – participated in the rescue effort Ever Given. Abdul-Gawad’s job at this time was to move soil, rock and sand from the bow of the ship to another place, while the Mashhour knocked silt off the canal.

This concerted effort – with the help of a high tide – brought hopeful signs the next day. And finally, the campaign was successful on March 29. The image of the Ever Given boat escaping made all the workers shout, and the tugboats honk to celebrate.

Abdul-Gawad said he and his colleagues were “half alive from exhaustion.”

“We were pushed to our limits,” said Abdul-Gawad. “But the moment we saw Ever Given off to sea, all fatigue seemed to vanish.”

Field survey officials. Photo: BI

Scary silence

The Suez Canal is a source of pride in Egypt, being called “Egypt’s Gift to the World” on billboards when it expanded in 2015.

President of Egypt – Abdel Fattah el-Sisi declared: “The Egyptians have ended the crisis of the ship stranded Ever Given despite all difficulties.”

But Abdul-Gawad said he hardly attended any of the celebrations. Apart from a small ceremony held by a newspaper, Abdul-Gawad received little or no official recognition for his role.

“I was invited to a ceremony, where they honor the people who took the ships out to sea.” But it is primarily intended for Suez Canal Authority employees, not including Abdul-Gawad because he works for a subcontractor.

Invitations were also sent to Abdul-Gawad at the last minute only. Because the celebration took place in a city four hours away by car. And Abdul-Gawad received an invitation an hour and a half earlier.

Abdul-Gawad said he felt deeply hurt.

“The Suez Canal Authority patted himself on the chest that they have done a great job. But in the end, without an excavator, the ship wouldn’t go anywhere. It can still get stuck. ”

Image of the jam seen from satellite. Photo: Maxar

In an interview on April 8, Abdul-Gawad said that he and his colleagues still have not received overtime pay, even though they work more than 21 hours a day.

However, Abdul-Gawad said he will look back on those extraordinary days with pride.

“This is an achievement,” he said. “At first it was an achievement for Egypt, but it was also an achievement for me. This event can only happen once in my life. Twice at most. It is something to be proud of.”

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel relates it to an artery blockage that caused capitalism’s heart attack. An association could not be more relevant. Ever Given gets stuck, but that’s not just its own business. Nearly 400 other ships that wanted to cross Suez were also stuck, causing $ 9.6 billion in trade value to stall.

Obviously no ships were sunk and the cargo will arrive sooner or later but they are slow. Slowly, that’s how capitalism has changed man’s notion of time. If you asked someone who lived in the 17th century about a timetable, they would wonder what the hell you were asking about. Until the 18th century, people just invented a timetable to manage train times. But, it was not until the late 19th and early 20th centuries that industrialists had to optimize it and bring it into economics as an indicator of efficiency. That is, it was only when the capitalists appeared that the expression “time is money” was born.

The image of the pitiful little bulldozer is rescuing the Ever Given super ship into a photo-processing phenomenon on social networks for many days.

Not only that. The Ever Given ship stuck for 6 days in the Suez Canal, Egypt, causing the country to lose $ 12-14 million per day. 6 days seems to be a very special time for Egyptians. In 1967, the Israeli army also landed in Egypt to wage a six-day war over the Arab coalition and as a result Israel then took control of the Gaza Strip, east of Jerusale, the Sinai peninsula, the west bank and Golan Heights.

In retaliation, Egypt closed the Suez Canal and reopened it in 1975. That coincidence is a sign that, if we look closely, the story of the incident in Suez might suggest more.

And, that’s right. Since its inception, Suez has always been a mirror to the world, even if we want to, we can see very clearly the many stages of human history over the past 150 years, only through the lens of Suez: from the owner. colonialism in Africa, to the Cold War and then globalization.

In the mid-19th century, a French diplomat proposed to invest in Egypt building a canal connecting the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, and the creation of that artery was also the beginning of a dark chapter of Africa, when the continent began to be torn apart by Europe. Just before Suez’s inauguration, Khedive (Viceroy) of Egypt defaulted and was forced to sell part of the ownership of the Suez Canal to England – so a colonial dispute broke out between England and France, culminating is the Fashoda event, where the British won Egypt and the French kept only Morocco. So, from the outset, that canal has been a metaphor for a change in power structure.

However, the troubled political situation in Egypt led the British press to coined the term “Egyptian question” as a way of expressing doubt and fear that the occupation of the Suez Canal would pose a threat. Castle. Little is said about, that the formation of the Suez Canal led to the creation of a gothic literary movement about the supernatural forces of the rising ancient Egyptian civilization to destroy the enemy. Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the immortal series of Sherlock Holmes, could not stand out from the trend and he has a short story “Lot No.249” revolving around an Egyptologist who brings back so many antiques. You should get revenge by the zombies.

And, the story of these ancient curses “can be read as a symbol of both a desire for power to fully hold the Suez Canal and the fear of losing it,” as scholar Ailise Bulfin in Trinity College wrote in an essay.

It was the middle of the 19th century. Also until the middle of the 20th century, this time everything changed after 2 world wars. Colonialism is coming to the conclusion of many colonial countries’ struggle for national liberation and a newly formed context: the Cold War. The historic arena now belonged to the Soviet and American powers, a battle that Hopkins University’s foreign relations professor Michael Mandelbaum likened to a sumo fight, in which two fat brothers worshiped. and stomped his feet but barely actually touched each other. With unmatched value, the Suez Canal is of course indispensable for a role on this sumo ring.

The British Air Force prepared to attack Egypt during the Suez Crisis of 1956.

On October 29, 1956, the British – French – Israeli coalition attacked Egypt after its decision to nationalize the Suez Canal, opening the “Suez Crisis”. And, like all events in the world at the time, it was actually still a matter between the US and the Soviet Union, though they might not “show up” directly. Why does the Egyptian government want to nationalize Suez? It is in response to the US unwillingness to fund the construction of the Aswan Dam on the Nile. And who is willing to lend Egypt $ 1.12 billion to implement this project? Who else but the Soviet Union.

What was even more interesting, however, was that the United States did not want to attack Egypt. Therefore, President Eisenhower’s government has pressured allied countries to leave, with Britain alone, Eisenhower threatened to sell bonds in pounds, which would cause immeasurable damage. for UK finance. Frightened, Britain withdrew its troops and suffered a dull face. Historians today conclude that the Suez Crisis “marked the end of the UK’s role as one of the great powers in the world” and that the demise of old empires like Britain or France only caused The dichotomy between the US and the Soviet Union became more solid.

Then after a few decades, when the walls fell, the Cold War was finally in the past. What defeated it, replaced it, was globalization, according to author Thomas L. Friedman in “The Lexus and the Olive Fishing”. Friedman’s famous book was first published in 1999 but up to now, it is still accurate. We are still living in the era of globalization, globalization becomes more and more apparent in every corner of our lives.

And, just in time when the new power structure is going into smooth operation, the Ever Given ship’s trauma on the Suez Canal reveals to us the fragility of the global supply chain. In his book, Friedman makes a statement: “The greatest threats to globalization originate in itself. This system has the potential to destroy itself ”. Among the “self-destructive potentials” mentioned by Friedman, one comes from “too tight connection”.

Only one ship, but accounts for more than 13% of all cargo that goes through the sea. Just one ship, can cause total damage of about 400 million USD per hour and 10 billion USD per day. And, no country can say this incident has no effect on us, just that the effect will come soon or a little later. It was an incident no one ever thought could happen, but it still happens. And, the whole world could suffer just because of the negligence of a handful of people. The weakness of globalization lies in that. And this time, will the Suez Canal herald a structural change in the world? Some experts say that, most likely, the Suez incident will promote the transport of knowledge and technology, instead of the physical cargo. Let’s wait and see.

But, also does not rule out this possibility, a possibility that has been mixed with the Egyptians in recent days. The number is that before Ever Given was trapped, Egypt was moving 22 mummies to the new museum and because of the “cemetery of the tombs”, the mummies of the Pharaohs were cradling a curse that caused bad luck to the world. It sounds nonsense, but it shouldn’t be taken literally. In fact, the curse of the Pharaohs is the “olive tree” described by Friedman: it is a symbol of the past, of identity, of tradition, which is grappling with the “lexus” – that is development, integration, industrialization, which is represented by the modern Ever Given supership.

The only thing we can be sure of is that globalization has some small problems, but if not fixed in time, it can have a big impact. Anyway, in ancient times terrible changes in history began with the release of screws.