Rescuers say skyscraper-sized ship stuck in Suez Canal could take weeks to unblock
25 March 2021
A skyscraper-sized container ship wedged in the Suez Canal could take weeks to unblock, wreaking further havoc on global oil markets and trade, the Financial Times reports.
Background: The 220,000-ton and quarter-mile-long Ever Given container ship, one of the largest in the world, has been stuck in the canal since it was caught in poor visibility and high winds from a sandstorm Tuesday as it was headed from China to the Netherlands.
- “The more secure the ship is, the longer an operation will take,” said Peter Berdowski, CEO of Boskalis, a company involved in the rescue, according to FT. “It can take days to weeks. Bringing in all the equipment we need, that’s not around the corner.”
- SMIT Salvage BV, an elite ship dislodging company, and Japan's Nippon Salvage Co. have also been tapped for the rescue effort, according to Bloomberg. The rescuers may have to lighten the ship by removing fuel or water meant to keep it steady while at sea.
Why it matters: The Suez Canal accounts for approximately 30% of container shipping volumes, and blocking it even for a short amount of time will cause oil prices to rise.
- About 100 ships are stuck in the canal waiting to pass through, carrying cargo worth almost $10 billion in oil and consumer goods.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.