The Ever Given, a ship that was beached on the banks of the Suez Canal has been freed, the Suez Canal Authority has announced. Photo: Internet Source

The ship became stranded on Tuesday, March 23, 2021, after running aground and becoming lodged sideways across the waterway where at first, a gust of wind was thought to be to blame. Photo: Internet Source

Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) reached out to both the Jr Minister for Trade and Economic Development, Hon Shereen D. Flax-Charles and Managing Director of the BVI Ports Authority Mrs Oleanvine Maynard on the possible impacts on the Virgin Islands (VI), however, no response was received up to publication time. Photo: GIS/BVIPA

Some vessels were rerouted to avoid the Suez Canal, around eight days to their total journeys while the canal was blocked. Photo: Internet Source

The ship became stranded on Tuesday, March 23, 2021, after running aground and becoming lodged sideways across the waterway where at first, a gust of wind was thought to be to blame

Since being freed, the 400m, 2019,076-tonne ship was taken north to the Great Bitter Lake further along the canal where Boskalis, the salvage company involved in the rescue, said the ship would undergo a full inspection.

Impacts on VI trade unclear

However, the impacts of the blockage on global and regional cargo trade is expected to be felt in the coming weeks given the ship blocked passage of major cargo vessels in the canal.

Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) reached out to both the Jr Minister for Trade and Economic Development, Hon Shereen D. Flax-Charles (AL) and Managing Director of the BVI Ports Authority Mrs Oleanvine Maynard on the possible impacts on the Virgin Islands (VI), however, no response was received up to publication time.

As of Sunday, there were 369 ships stuck in a tailback waiting to pass through the 193km (120-mile) canal on either side of the blockage.

Some ships re-routed around Africa

Meanwhile, there have been more than 145,200 social interactions on Twitter using the #SuezBLOCKED hashtag and at least 133,000 shares, according to an analysis by monitoring company ‘BrandMentions’.

The BBC reports that about 12% of global trade, around one million barrels of oil and roughly 8% of liquefied natural gas pass through the canal each day.

Some vessels have been rerouted to avoid the Suez Canal, around eight days to their total journeys.