Ever Given and Layered Limits

The Ever Given ship that ran aground in a single-lane stretch of the Suez Canal near the city of Suez on March 23 was estimated early on by Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Chairman Osama Rabie to reach $1 billion in loss and damages, with payouts in the hundreds of millions of dollars. These estimations however are not concrete as the actual amount will not be calculable until after investigations are complete, and when that will take place is anyone’s guess. Some 400+ vessels were thwarted by the canal’s closure and international supply chains were disrupted as traffic was halted for almost a week before Ever Given was dislodged and the canal re-opened.

Ever Given is in the top 1% globally of vessel size, with a length of 1,312 ft, a height of 1,454 ft, and 194 ft in width. It can carry as many as 20,000 containers, and up to 224,000 tons (source: MarineTraffic, Encyclopedia Britannica, Suez Canal Authority and Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty Graphic: Henrik Pettersson, CNN).