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The white-green Elbe ferry “Finkenwerder” then looked like a total write-off: one side dented deeply, the panes cracked and above the waterline with a strong crack.
Fortunately, the ferry was on the bank and was empty except for the crew.
It is impossible to imagine what would have happened if there had been passengers on board the passenger ship.
On the "Ever Given", on the other hand, only paint damage and small dents could be discovered afterwards.
Shortly before, the container ship had rammed the “Finkenwerder” because it had lost its way on the Elbe on the way to Rotterdam.
According to the responsible authorities, it was a maneuvering error.
The same colossus ship, which two years ago almost became responsible for a catastrophe in Hamburg, has been paralyzing major parts of world shipping for days.
The "Ever Given", a giant for 20,000 standard containers, is stuck across the Suez Canal, the bulge on the ship's bow has dug into the clay on the wall of the canal.
The channel should be closed for a maximum of three days - but there are doubts
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When visibility was poor and there was plenty of wind, the captain of the 400-meter-long freighter had gone off course, with fatal consequences: More than 200 cargo ships are now in front of the southern and northern entrance to the artificial waterway.
More are added every hour, with an average of 50 ships using the important shortcut to Asia every day.
They have loaded containers with textiles, electronics or even garden furniture from Asia, but they also include large oil and gas tankers as well as bulk carriers for grain, for example.
And since around twelve percent of world trade and 30 percent of global container traffic at sea go through this very channel, a blockade is a horror for large parts of the global economy - at least if it lasts for a long time.
A satellite image shows the "Ever Given" that blocks the Suez Canal
Source: CNES / AIRBUS DS via REUTERS
It is precisely this question that cannot be answered with certainty.
Mohab Mamisch, the advisor to the Egyptian head of state Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for seaports, told the AFP news agency on Thursday evening that shipping on the canal between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean would be "resumed within 48 to 72 hours at the most".
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But the experts at the Dutch salvage company Smit Salvage, commissioned by the ship owner of "Ever Given", are much more pessimistic.
On the Dutch news program “Nieuwsuur”, the boss of the parent company Boskalis, Peter Berdowski, said he would not rule out a rescue over several weeks.
You first have to unload ballast water and fuel, then dredge the bank and finally use tugs again.
As a first reaction to this, the shipping company giants Maersk from Copenhagen and Hapag-Lloyd from Hamburg are now examining whether their container ships should take the detour around the Cape of Good Hope past Africa.
However, this route from Asia to Europe and vice versa takes around ten days longer than through the Suez Canal and is significantly more expensive due to the time delay and increased fuel consumption.
The situation has also worsened: The Egyptian canal company has initially stopped its attempts to free the cargo ship, which weighs a good 220,000 tons, with the help of ten tugs.
However, this work is to be resumed.
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Problems are not caused by the available pulling force - the canal authorities keep other tugs in reserve - but by the extremely high loads on the ship's hull.
This is due to the construction of the giant.
If the tugs were to pull on the hull with too much force, there is a risk of structural damage and even total damage to the ship.
The container ship, which belongs to the Japanese shipping company Shoei Kisen and whose ship operation is the responsibility of Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, is aground in the Suez Canal at both ends.
In the middle, on the other hand, it sags slightly, as the photos of the accident show.
The bow of the ship has pushed up into the embankment.
Much of the enormous weight rests on the bow and stern in the clay on the canal bank.
To pull the colossus down from the ground is impossible so far.
One plan is to unload the ship and relieve it.
But the use of mobile ship cranes takes a lot of time, after all, the containers, which can weigh up to 30 tons, have to be brought down from a height of 40 meters.
Another alternative is to dredge the bottom of the canal under the bow.
Smaller excavators have already started.
But here, too, there is a lack of special ships that can wash down the container freighter.
No matter how quickly the ship may be recovered, the owner from Japan and his liability and ship insurance will have claims in the double-digit million dollar range.
The shipwreck and the resulting congestion of hundreds of cargo ships comes at an inopportune time for the global economy and its supply chains.
The corona pandemic has long since triggered turmoil in world trade and ship transport.
In the midst of a rapid increase in transport volumes from Asia to the USA or Europe, problems arise in many places.
There is a lack of empty containers in sea freight because handling times in the ports have slowed down dramatically.
Container ships are currently anchored off Long Beach for an average of 16 days, waiting to be unloaded.
Supply chains are at least delayed and in some cases already interrupted.
According to the Federation of German Industries, "international logistics turbulence can already be felt".
Earlier delays would already have an impact on production, it says there.
The industry, with its dependence on raw materials or the supply of building materials, is particularly affected.
In addition, 16 percent of German chemical imports arrive by ship via the Suez Canal.
The chemical industry is affected every day of the blockade, it said in the industry association VCI.
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However, the world's largest forwarding agent for sea freight, the Swiss group Kuehne + Nagel, sees no insoluble tasks facing logistics.
"We are far from chaos and catastrophe," said CEO Detlef Trefzger in an interview with WELT.
Container transport, for example for the automotive industry or retail trade, would take longer and become more expensive.
However, the group could redirect a number of goods to air freight or rail transport between Asia and Europe.
In addition, shipping companies would take the long route past South Africa.
"There are alternatives and solutions for time-sensitive goods," said the manager.
For the German automotive industry, however, the canal blockade comes at a bad time.
There have been major delivery problems with semiconductors from Asia for weeks, which is why Volkswagen had to cut production temporarily.
Compared to these problems, however, the Suez blockade in industry is still quite relaxed.
"The blockade in the Suez Canal has so far had no impact on Volkswagen's production sites," says a spokesman for the group.
However, if this situation persists, the situation must be reassessed.
In the past few years, the corporations have already started buying components as close as possible to the factories.
Car manufacturers mainly transport critical parts such as semiconductors by cargo aircraft.
For longer transport routes, the logisticians plan in time buffers - for sea transport from Asia, this is usually around a week.
But the worries go further.
Much larger container ships have long been on the move.
The new giants are a few meters wider and, above all, up to 40,000 tons heavier.
“With 24,000 TEU ships on the horizon, we are now seeing the effects of what could happen more regularly in the future,” warns Captain Rahul Khanna, who is responsible for ship insurance at Allianz.
TEU means Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit, i.e. standard containers with a length of 20 feet.
“Valuable lessons for piloting and handling the ultra-large ships in the Suez Canal” would have to be drawn.
Much is at stake, not just for shipping, but also for the country of Egypt.
After all, the Suez Canal is an important source of income with a transit fee of a quarter of a million euros.
Last year, the Canal Authority received the equivalent of more than five billion euros.
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