Suez Canal Is Open Again, Which Is Good News For Halifax
HALIFAX – Last week, the whole world found out just how fragile the international economy can be. On March 23, a cargo ship as big as the Empire State Building got stuck diagonally while travelling through the Suez Canal. The Ever Given is so large it had completely blocked the canal. The global economy, which relies heavily on the canal to connect Asian markets to western countries, has been losing an estimated $4-billion per day in trade.
On March 29, after six days blocking the canal, work crews were able to free the grounded ship, and the canal is now open to traffic again.
The situation caught the attention of more than just economists last week, as everyone on the internet has created or shared a meme about the blockage. In Halifax, the business community was also concerned about Suez Canal situation. As a major North American port city, Halifax relies on international trade for much of its traffic, says Lane Farguson, a spokesperson for the Halifax Port Authority.
“The longer the delay, the more complicated it becomes to get things back on track,” said Farguson in an interview with Huddle. “I think that’s what we’re seeing here right now. There is a delay is getting ships through the Suez Canal and there are starting to become some backups.”
In 2020, Asia was the most important market for the Halifax shipping trade, as 51 percent of all imports and exports came to and from the continent. Europe made up 36 percent of trade and 12 percent came from Latin America/ The Caribbean.
Farguson says the Port Authority had been monitoring the Suez Canal blockage closely since March 23, but it’s hard to pinpoint how much of the shipping delays in Halifax were due to the Ever Given. For more than half a year, the port has been extremely busy as North America has experienced an economic boom during the second part of the pandemic. But Since it took just six days to refloat the Ever Given, Farguson believes the delays at the Port of Halifax were minimal.
“All ports have been very, very, busy ever since the second half of last year; that’s all due to Covid-19. We saw a surge in import cargo from Southeast Asia… and it really hasn’t slowed down since,” said Farguson.
“This is a positive development and the Suez Canal Authority and salvage firm involved should be recognized for their efforts. Work will soon begin to clear the backlog and ocean carriers can get back to business as usual. Containerized cargo continues to move through the Port of Halifax and there has not been a significant impact on operations here.”
The Suez Canal was created in 1869 so commercial vessels didn’t have to take the long, dangerous voyage around the South Atlantic Ocean to get past Africa. An estimated 10 percent of all seafaring trade currently goes through the canal. The Suez Canal was widened in 2016, which allowed larger vessels to pass through. This created even more business for the Halifax port.
“The widening of the Suez Canal to allow for two lanes of commercial traffic – it helped us out here in Halifax, because it allowed for larger vessels to more easily call here,” said Farguson.