Suez Canal: epic mission to free Ever Given ship sparks flood of memes, jokes

Images of them – dwarfed by the hull of the monster they were trying to dig out – circulated with comments on Twitter such as “these two guys and their digger are currently trying to save global trade”.

A person opened a Twitter account @SuezDiggerGuy, “Guy With the Digger at Suez Canal”, with a profile that read: “Trying my best. No promises.” It had garnered more than 18,000 followers as of Friday afternoon.

Its timeline was replete with observations such as, “Thinking of naming my digger, Ever Digging” and bemoaning having his leave rescinded by managers.

Another person said the jammed ship was akin to encountering a learner driver practising a U-turn while being late for an appointment.

Netizens also conjured up Lego images of the digger and the bow of the container ship, which is carrying consumer goods from Chinese factories to European households.

Once it became clear the ship could be stuck for weeks, a website quickly spun up, istheshipstillstuck.com.

And the memes filled the internet like cargo ships piling up in the Red Sea. Many of the most popular touched on the angst of the last pandemic-filled year; one labelled the hulking ship “my Covid depression & anxiety” and the tiny digger on shore as “going on a daily walk”.

Meanwhile, the operation to free the trapped vessel continued on Friday.

A team from Boskalis, a Dutch firm specialised in salvaging, started working with the canal authority on Thursday. The rescue efforts have focused on dredging to remove sand and mud from around the port side of the vessel’s bow.

A suction dredger aiming to remove 15,000 to 20,000 cubic metres of sand around the bow of the ship, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said. The estimated removal is designed to reach a depth of 12 to 16 metres that can allow refloating the vessel, it added.

At least 237 ships were waiting for the Ever Given to be cleared, including vessels near Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea, Port Suez on the Red Sea and those already stuck on a lake mid-canal, said Leth Agencies, which provides services for the canal.

Some ships now may be changing course to avoid using the Suez Canal. The liquid natural gas carrier Pan Americas changed course in the mid-Atlantic, now aiming south to go around the southern tip of Africa, according to satellite data Friday from MarineTraffic.com.

An Egyptian official at the Suez Canal Authority said those trying to dislodge the vessel wanted to avoid complications that could extend the canal closure. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to journalists.

Hong Kong facing weeks of delays, higher costs over Suez Canal blockage

In a Friday statement, the authority said it welcomed offers of international support to help free the vessel, including one from the United States. It did not specify what kind of assistance was offered.

At least 18,000 ships pass through the canal annually, according to Egyptian officials.

Worries are mounting that the dislodging operation could take weeks.

However, Shoei Kisen, the Japanese owner of the grounded ship, said on Friday it would try to refloat the tanker this weekend.

“We are aiming to free the ship by Saturday night Japan time,” Yumi Shinohara, a company spokeswoman, told dpa.

Five experts sent by an insurance company have been working with local authorities and the Taiwanese operator of the ship, Evergreen Marine, to deal with the situation, Shinohara said.

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