It’s now been more than a year since Ever Given got stuck in the Suez Canal.
Given the benefit of time and space since the event, we can now look back on how a gust of wind disrupted global trade in innumerable ways.
The Suez Canal enables 12% of global trade. Without it, container ships would need to circumnavigate the African continent. That’s a 6,000 mile journey!
However, when Ever Given ran aground, it blocked all traffic for 6 days, and it took engineers more than 100 days to free it. There are some estimates the cost to businesses and governments was in excess of $60 billion.
That’s an expensive gust.
But it shows how interconnected, interdependent, and fragile our systems of global trade are. One event can have mind bending, knock-on effects throughout the world.