Suez Canal blocked: the Ever Given ship will damage the tech world

He's been talking about there for days Ever given, which is the container ship that blocked the Suez passage and which is causing concern for the global economy. With a length of 400 meters, the equivalent of 4 football fields, on Tuesday 23 March it was the victim of gusts of wind that made it end sideways, running aground. In addition to being a serious damage to the operations of Egypt, where it is located, the matter will only have repercussions on the global market. From that channel, created about 150 years ago, passes the 7% of the world's merchant traffic and it will take weeks to unlock.

The Ever Given ship runs aground in the Suez Canal: the impact for the economy will be high

With a weight of 220.000 tons, the maneuvers to unlock the Ever Given ship from the Suez Canal will be anything but easy. The container ship is operated by Taiwanese Evergreen (with Panamanian flag), had left China and was headed for the Netherlands. Already from this potpourri of nations we understand how merchant traffic is still today one of the most used systems for the exchange of goods between various parts of the Earth. From the start, its blockade in the Red Sea channel appeared as a serious event for the operation of the global economy. Fortunately, there has been no environmental damage, but there is already hundreds of boats that cannot complete their passage.

And it is a problem, because the alternative is to circumnavigate Africa, but it is indeed feasible in various respects. Given its size, there are two options for proceeding with the liberation of the canal: wait for a high tide or proceed with the unloading of the over 20.000 containers that is carrying. So far, all attempts to move it have failed and even Smit Salvage, a company known for operating on the Costa Concordia, has been set in motion.

The tech world will also be affected by the Suez Canal problem

If the pandemic were not enough, it seems that the Suez Canal blocked by the Ever Given will have significant repercussions for the world of the economy. And the technology sector will not be excluded. As an industry expert tells NBC News, "everything we see in stores will be affected by these delays". Not only food, clothes, furniture and furnishings for the home, but also electronic components.

Given the impact of this problem, there is always the hope that the huge amount of workforce put in place can unlock the situation sooner than expected. At worst, it could take weeks for the container ship to move, but the aforementioned high tide could reduce the wait to a few days. Here is what Glenn Koepke, vice president of logistics company FourKites says: "Typically, buyers plan at least 2-5 days of safety reserve with inbound ocean freight due to delays that may occur at the origin or during the customs clearance process. If they are able to clear the channel or drag the ship to the side to allow traffic, the impact on consumers should be minimal. If the ship is stuck for a week or more, this could have huge implications".

As this is the first time a blockage of this magnitude has occurred, what this impact will be is too early to tell. If we talk about weeks of waiting, companies could decide to have the raw materials contained in the blocked containers sent back by plane. And in this case, also given the pandemic situation, this could have repercussions with flight delays for normal passengers. But what is most worrying is the impact it could have on the already problematic chipset market. So problematic that it prompted Xiaomi to publicly state that it could be forced to raise prices for consumers.