Maritime incident caused by grounded vessel
The Suez Canal was blocked for six days from 23 to 29 March 2021 by the , a container ship that had run aground in the canal. 
The , 224,000-ton, 20,000 TEU vessel was buffeted by strong winds on the morning of 23 March, and ended up wedged across the waterway with its bow and stern stuck on opposite canal banks, blocking all traffic until it could be freed. Egyptian authorities said that "technical or human errors" may have also been involved. The obstruction occurred south of the two-channel section of the canal, so there was no way around it for other ships. The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) engaged Boskalis through its subsidiary Smit International to manage marine salvage operations. The blockage of one of the world's busiest trade routes significantly slowed trade between Europe, Asia and the Middle East. 
On 28 March, at least 369 ships were queuing to pass through the canal, stranding an estimated US$9.6 billion worth of trade. On 29 March, "Ever Given" was partially re-floated and moved by about 80 percent in the correct direction, although the bow remained stuck until the ship was finally freed by Egyptian, Dutch, and Italian tugs at 15:05 EGY (13:05 UTC); it took 14 tug boats at high tide to dislodge it. The ship started moving under tow towards the Great Bitter Lake for technical inspection. The canal was checked for damage and found to be sound; the SCA allowed shipping to resume from 19:00 EGY (17:00 UTC) on 29 March. No injuries were reported during the incident. 
The vessel was subsequently impounded by the Egyptian government on 13 April when its owner and insurers refused to pay the demanded billion-dollar compensation. In July, a formal settlement for an undisclosed sum was finally reached between the ship owner, the insurers, and the Canal Authority. The ship set sail again on 7 July 2021, stopping for inspections at Port Said before continuing to its original destination, port of Rotterdam.
After the incident, the Egyptian government announced that they will widen the narrower parts of the canal.
Background.
The Suez Canal, one of the world's most important trading routes, was opened in 1869. By 2021, approximately fifty ships per day travelled through the canal, about 12 percent of total global trade at the time. For much of its length, however, the canal is not wide enough to allow two ships to pass each other; convoys of ships must take turns transiting these segments of the waterway. An expansion project is underway, but significant portions of the canal remain single-laned.
 (IMO ) was laid down on 25 December 2015, launched 9 May 2018, and completed 25 September 2018, replacing an earlier ship of the same name (IMO ). At the time of the incident, she was registered in Panama, owned by the Japanese firm Shoei Kisen Kaisha, leased to the Taiwan-based container shipping company Evergreen Marine for operation, and managed by Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, and crewed by Indian nationals. The owner Shoei Kisen Kaisha had protection and indemnity (third party) liability coverage for $3.1 billion with mutual UK P&amp;I Club in the Japanese market. In addition, container ships of this size are typically insured for hull and machinery damage of $100 and $140 million.
Prior to the incident, "Ever Given" had sailed through the canal 22 times. Bill Kavanagh has described sailing through the Suez Canal as "a very complex and high risk operation". Wind gusts will cause the stacked containers to "act like a sail" to blow the heavy ship off course, and its enormous momentum makes it difficult to recover.
The government of Egypt requires ships traversing the canal to be boarded by an Egyptian "Suez crew", including one or more official maritime pilots from Egypt's SCA who command the ship, taking over from the regular crew and the captain. There were two Egyptian SCA pilots on board at the time of the accident.
Incident.
On 23 March 2021, "Ever Given" was travelling from Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia, to the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands. As it traversed the Suez Canal, it was fifth in a northbound convoy through the single-lane stretch, with fifteen vessels behind it. At 07:40 EGY (05:40 UTC), the ship was caught in a sandstorm. Strong winds exceeding resulted in the "loss of the ability to steer the ship", causing the hull to deviate. The ship ran aground at the mark measured from Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea, from Suez Port on the Gulf of Suez, near the village of Manshiyet Rugola. The ship turned sideways, unable to free itself, blocking the canal on both sides. The crew, consisting entirely of Indian nationals, was accounted for and no injuries were reported. 
According to an analysis of data from ship-tracking websites by Evert Lataire, head of Maritime Technology division at the University of Ghent, the bank effect, which may cause the stern of a ship to swing toward the near bank when operating in constricted waterway, may have contributed to the grounding, along with the lateral forces of west-to-east winds pushing sideways against the northbound ship. Since most of the focus of modern ship design is directed towards efficiency and stability at sea, the effects of hydrodynamics in shallow waters, especially in light of the rapidly growing size of ships in the past decade, remain somewhat obscure and in need of further study.
Over 300 vessels at both ends of the canal were obstructed by "Ever Given", including five other container ships of similar size. These included 41 bulk carriers and 24 crude oil tankers. The affected vessels represented roughly of deadweight. Some docked at ports and anchorages in the area, while many remained in place. The "Ever Given"'s sister ship, "Ever Greet", was affected by the disruption, as were two Russian Navy vessels: and "Kola". These two vessels, believed to have been the only military vessels affected by the blockage, were conducting naval exercises in the area at the time. "Kola" had been involved in a minor collision with bulk carrier "Ark Royal" earlier that day; the two were anchored roughly away from each other for the duration of the incident.
Salvage and refloating.
On 25 March, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) suspended navigation through the canal until "Ever Given" could be refloated. On the same day, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's advisor on seaports stated that he expected the canal to be cleared in "48–72 hours, maximum". The Suez Canal Authority engaged the Dutch company Royal Boskalis Westminster through its subsidiary Smit Salvage to manage marine salvage operations. Peter Berdowski, Chief Executive of Boskalis, stated on that such an operation "can take days to weeks". On 26 March, the SCA accepted an offer made by a United States Navy assessment team of dredging experts to assist in efforts to remove the ship. 
Boskalis' team of experts collaborated with the Canal Authority, directing a team of Egyptian, Dutch, and Japanese workers. Over a dozen tugboats were brought to tow and push the ship, and suction dredgers to remove sand and silt from under her bow and stern. High-capacity pumps were brought to remove or redistribute the weight of fuel oil and water ballast on the ship. Backup plans contemplated unloading the 18,300 TEU of 15-tonne containers using large floating cranes or even heavy lift helicopters, but this was deemed impractical and hazardous.
As a first step, vessels were moved from behind "Ever Given" to make room for the refloating operation. Fuel and nine thousand tonnes of ballast water were removed to lighten the ship as an excavator began to dig out the bow. By the following day, the Canal Authority said its dredging operations were about 87 percent complete. 
On 27 March, a high tide enabled a small flotilla of tugboats to join the efforts to re-float the ship. Yukito Higaki, president of Shoei Kisen Kaisha, reported: "The ship is not taking water. Once it refloats, it should be able to operate." By 18:00 UTC, the ship had moved north by . More than 300 ships were delayed near the canal, with others still approaching and some diverted to alternative routes. Delays were expected to persist even after "Ever Given" was freed, as vessels might face busy ports.
Osama Rabie, SCA chairman, told a press conference that weather conditions were "not the main reasons" for the ship's grounding, adding that "there may have been technical or human errors", and that all factors would be investigated.
On 28 March, efforts to dislodge the ship progressed to allow some movement of the stern and its rudder at high tide. Rabie said that "at any time the ship could slide and move from the spot it is in", and he hoped it would not be necessary to unload containers from the ship, despite strong tides and winds complicating recovery efforts. This came as the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, ordered preliminary preparations be made for lightening the ship's cargo. The seagoing tug "Alp Guard", with a bollard pull of 285 tonnes, arrived that morning, almost doubling the available towing capacity.
On 29 March, the stern of "Ever Given" was refloated at 04:30 local time (02:30 UTC), and a second seagoing tug, the Italian "Carlo Magno", with a bollard pull of 153 tonnes arrived, giving a further large increase in towing capacity. Ballast was adjusted, and towing timed to make maximum use of the ebbing king tide of a supermoon tidal flow. At 15:05 local time (13:05 UTC), the ship was pulled free. 
The vessel was towed to the Great Bitter Lake for inspection. After a search of the bottom and soil of the canal, it was reopened to shipping from 19:00 local time (17:00 UTC). By then more than 400 ships were waiting: approximately 200 in the Red Sea, under 200 in the Mediterranean Sea; and around 50 in the Bitter Lakes.
On 31 March, with the "Ever Given" at anchor in the Great Bitter Lake along the canal, divers and SCA investigators started inspecting the ship for damage, as well as interrogating the crew to determine the causes of the grounding. The backlog of ships delayed by the blockage was finally cleared by 3 April.
In June 2021, the SCA stated that one person died during the six-day salvage operation.
Events during the several days the canal was blocked highlighted the difficulties of saving larger ships, which requires more time and more equipment. If "Ever Given" had required intervention of floating cranes to remove some containers (assuming crane ships of sufficient capacity would have been available within any realistic time-frame), the process would have required larger equipment working for longer, and would have been likely to prolong the blockage by "days, even weeks".
Legal issues and seizure.
Legal compensation claims.
Through April and May, the ship remained under seizure, pending a settlement for damages between the ship's owners and the Suez Canal Authority. SCA head Osama Rabie demanded a billion-dollar compensation for lost revenue and the cost of the salvage operation, and warned that legal battles could prevent the departure of the ship. Concerns were raised for the crew, who would be effectively detained until the incident was resolved. 
Merchant marine operations, always complex, expensive, and risky, are regulated under the centuries-old international Admiralty law. The issue was complicated by the "labyrinthine ownership structure of container ships", issues of jurisdiction, and competing investigation results. While the ship's Japanese owner, Shoei Kisen, indicated a willingness to pay compensation, it might not shoulder the burden alone, and filed a lawsuit against the ship's operator. On 4 April, the owner declared "general average", a principle of maritime law that "the owner of cargo on board a ship should contribute to the cost of rescuing the vessel during a major casualty event". The previous time this was invoked, following the 2018 fire on the "Maersk Honam", the adjustor fixed a salvage payment of 54% of the value for cargo owners to recover their property. This could be particularly damaging to owners of uninsured shipments, such as small businesses. The general average process was stalled by the seizure of the ship, as the process requires that "the goods and the ship must successfully reach the destination, otherwise, there is no general average". Further complications were caused by the huge number of cargo interests involved.
Seizure.
On 13 April, the ship was seized by a court in Ismailia after a request by the