Ships at the entrance of Suez Canal on March 28, 2021, the last day before the waterway was reopened.When the Suez Canal was blocked, at least 27 ships re-routed to sail round Africa.If the rerouted ships and the ones using the canal all arrive at once, it would cause more backlogs.Ships that rerouted round the southern tip of Africa to beat the Suez Canal blockage may ultimately not save any time by making the several-thousand-mile detour.
The decision was effectively a bet that the extra time and effort from a longer route was preferable to waiting an uncertain length of time for the Ever Given to be freed.. These began to move Tuesday, with officials predicting that the backlog would clear by the end of the week. For the 27 ships heading round Africa, their plan appears to have backfired, as their new estimated times of arrival are roughly the same as if they had stayed.
Further, some of the vessels have been ordered to slow down to prevent a fresh backlog of ships forming in northern European ports if too many ships arrive at once.As of late last week, Europe's largest seaport in Rotterdam counted 59 ships headed its way,Containers are loaded onto a ship at the port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, September 11, 2018
Diverting around Africa adds at least 26 more days to the journey, presumably ports will have time to prepare for a short-term spike in volume.