Ever Given freed in Suez [UPDATE]
The refloating of the cargo vessel Ever Given from the Suez Canal should ease a premium on commodity prices, though lingering issues will remain to clear the log jam, an analyst told NGW on March 29.
Shipping line Evergreen reported Ever Given (IMO: 9811000) was successfully refloated in the Suez Canal
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“The chartered vessel will be repositioned to the Great Bitter Lake in the canal for an inspection of its seaworthiness,” the company said today. “The outcome of that inspection will determine whether the ship can resume its scheduled service.”
Great Bitter Lake is a natural saltwater reservoir within the broader canal.
The Suez Canal authority said earlier today that the vessel’s stern was freed from an embankment on the canal. Further efforts to free the vessel awaited high tide and she is now moving toward the staging area for inspection.
Data sent to NGW early today from energy intelligence firm Vortexa, based in Houston, Texas, showed there were 94 tankers laden with petroleum and petroleum products stuck in the traffic jam. Among those, 37 are carrying crude or fuel oil and 23 are carrying LNG or natural gas liquids.
“Of course, nothing really changes until the traffic has actually resumed to normal,” Vandana Hari, founder and CEO of Vanda Insights in Singapore, said. “But I think today’s development has raised hopes the situation will be resolved soon.”
The price for Brent crude oil, the global benchmark for the price of oil, was down 0.9% as of 11 am ET to $63.99/barrel. The price for natural gas on the New York Mercantile Exchange was down about 1% to trade at $2.59/mnBtu.
Ever Given twisted while going northbound through the Suez Canal on March 23, blocking maritime traffic of bulk cargo, crude oil and liquefied natural gas. The man-made artery separating the Arabian Peninsula from greater Egypt carries about 8% of the global shipments of LNG and about 10% of the total crude oil.
Vortexa managing director Clay Seigle said the blockade is less of a concern for the crude oil market because demand from the main end-user, Europe, is still quite low.
“The greatest risk for short-term disruption is for refined products, not crude oil,” he explained.