In a report published by the American "Foreign Policy" magazine, the writer, Elizabeth Brau, said that highlighting the closure of the Suez Canal for about a week by the giant cargo ship "Evergiven" is a reminder that there are many other incidents that would Global shipping has been disrupted.

During World War I, the British Royal Navy implemented a blockade on shipping destined for Germany, which led to an outbreak of famine, and in 1967, then Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser closed the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli shipping, a step that helped spark the Six Day War.

In 1975, more than 26 ships were making their way through the Suez Canal daily, and by 2019, the number had nearly doubled to about 52 ships per day, and the ships were loaded with more oil, fruits, auto parts, animals, grains, construction equipment, clothes, in addition to all other materials. Needed by companies and global consumers that shipped daily at an average of 3.307 tons per day, compared to 240 tons in 1975.

run aground

Evergiven is among the largest container ships in the world, being stuck in the canal fully loaded with about 20,000 TEUs.

In this context, Cormac McGary, a marine analyst at Control Risks, a global consulting firm, said that the ship's stranding in Suez is not a surprise to those working in this industry, and a warning of such an accident has long been warned. Long, because container ships have become so large, there are only a few ports in the world that can receive a ship like Evergiven.

12% of global freight passes through the Suez Canal, sea freight alone accounts for 80% of global trade, and if a ship gets stuck in the canal, 51.7 ships will be disrupted on average, or the ships will have to turn around and make a much longer journey around the Cape of Good Hope, which is what Exactly happened.

By the time the "Evergiven" was rebooted, 372 ships carrying more than 100,000 TEUs (plus smaller vessels) were waiting to sail through the canal, while some including the very large HMM Dublin. Carrying around 24,000 TEUs, it unsurprisingly decided to sail towards the southern tip of Africa.

After Egyptian officials and foreign experts succeeded in dislodging the 400-meter ship bound for Rotterdam, policymakers and ordinary citizens must look beyond the narrow canal linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, because the world of shipping on which we all depend is a lot of Other risks.

For his part, Simon Lockwood, a shipping expert at the global insurance brokerage and consultancy Willis Towers Watson, said that shipping is a somewhat forgotten industry, and as a result of this incident, the Suez Canal has become receiving great attention. In contrast, there are many Accidents in other waters that most people do not care about, indicating that only 12% of ships pass through the Suez Canal.

12% of global freight passes through the Suez Canal, while sea freight alone represents 80% of world trade (French).

GPS

In 2017, more than 20 ships in the Black Sea reported problems with GPS signals, and at times, the GPS loses its position or displays an inaccurate location, and a few days ago, the captain of one of the ships (whose nationality has not been revealed) Its name is the US Naval Administration, that GPS indicated them to an inland location (near Gelendjik Airport).

On the other hand, the ship moved away from the intended location more than 25 nautical miles, and it is possible that Russia was responsible for penetrating the global positioning system, as it must have been testing a new form of electronic warfare, and on February 7th, another ship lost in The Mediterranean has a fully fledged GPS signal, and two days earlier, another ship, traveling between Spain and Egypt, said that the GPS signal was frequently disrupted.

Rory Hopcraft, a researcher in marine cyber threats at the University of Plymouth, said ship crews know how to navigate using traditional tools to avoid misleading the global positioning system, and the biggest risk is more accurate navigation interference that pushes the ship into the territorial waters of another country. The hostile state then exploits this excess to extort and request money or other things from the ship's home country.

In 2019, something similar happened when the Iranian Revolutionary Guards seized the oil tanker "Stena Impero" in the Strait of Hormuz, after which the intelligence unit in "Lloyd's List" proved that the Swedish-owned oil tanker flying the UK flag received deceptive automatic identification system signals sent by it. To Iranian waters.

The author pointed out that most consumers do not pay attention to the fate of the ships and sailors affected by such tricks, and after the "Stena Impero" incident, insurance rates for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz have increased, and at the present time, it has become clear that most ships stuck in queue of the Suez Canal are not insured. Delays, as consumers should pay attention to both hacking the global positioning system and secure shipping so that they are not affected by the repercussions.

There are many other accidents that will disrupt global shipping (Reuters)

Sailors' supply

Global ships, which employ about 1.7 million seafarers, consist mainly of Chinese workers (who work mostly on Chinese ships), Filipinos, Indonesians, Russians and Ukrainians, as well as India, another major country of origin.

But the Japanese-owned Evergiven crew is only made up of Indians, just as most of the Stena Impero crew were Indians as well, in fact, this job requires hard work and long absences for a modest wage, and of course the low wages of seafarers are among the reasons for consumers. They ship their goods very cheaply all over the world.

According to the author, if the Kremlin wants to cause chaos in the world, it can direct orders to Russian sailors to stop working. Besides, China can order both its ships and crews to remain in its territory, and either country can penetrate the global positioning system of cargo ships. Which will cause it to stray into the waters of the hostile countries.

In this regard, McGary noted that the Suez Canal, the English Channel and the Straits of Malacca are all extremely vulnerable to disruptions that could cause global shipping to stop.