Review and Analysis of Blockage of Suez Canal Region Due to Giant Container Ship

Navigation through narrow waterways always requires expertise and help from local authorities to facilitate safer and faster navigation. The recent Suez Canal blockage by the ultra-large container ship Ever Given running aground has resulted in a temporary halt and extended delay in goods transportation. Blockage of such a critical waterway has raised major concerns about the risk involved in navigation. This commentary attempts to analyze the background and chain of events leading up to the blocking of the Suez Canal. In this process, the issues related to navigation and following up salvage efforts are analyzed to identify the critical areas of improvement. Based on these identifications, suggestions for future improvement of navigation and better preparedness to optimize the salvage efforts have been identified. These suggestions include digitalization, prediction-based navigation capabilities, development of tugboats and associated tools, and so forth.