New Suez crisis: a global economy creaking under the strain

New Suez crisis: a global economy creaking under the strain

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Gamal Abdel Nasser would surely afford himself a wry smile. Sixty-five years after the late Egyptian president nationalised the Suez Canal, prompting the 1956 invasion by the UK, France and Israel, the waterway continues to hold a vice-like grip on global commerce.

This week, a single ship “” admittedly one almost as long as the Empire State Building is tall “” caused ripple effects around the world when it blocked the southern entrance to the canal after running aground.

Crude oil prices have jumped, tankers and container ships are backed up and suppliers of everything from oil to televisions are contemplating sending their cargo around the Cape of Good Hope, potentially adding a week to shipping times, as well as significant extra costs. On Friday, rescuers were still desperately trying to dislodge the 220,000-tonne Ever Given, but warned it might take weeks to budge.

A century and a half after the canal was finished in 1869, more than 10 per cent of global seaborne trade and a similar amount of crude oil passes through the 120-mile waterway, which links a rising Asia with a wealthy Europe.

The Suez accident, which is holding up an estimated