Name: The Crash That Shut Down the Global Economy, Explained
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How could one ship shut down the global economy? An investigator shows why the Ever Given crashed into the bank of the Suez Canal, while the Cosco Galaxy—which passed through the waterway on the same day—did not.

The Suez Canal is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world.

The Crash That Shut Down the Global Economy, Explained

Crash That Shut Down the Global Economy, Explained

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How could one ship shut down the global economy? An investigator shows why the Ever Given crashed into the bank of the Suez Canal, while the Cosco Galaxy—which passed through the waterway on the same day—did not.

The Suez Canal is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world.

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The Crash That Shut Down the Global Economy, ExplainedPublished: May 27, 2022Narrator: The Ever Given, one of the largest container ships ever built plows into the bank of the Suez Canal. It completely blocks one of the most important shipping lanes in the world for nearly a week triggering a global emergency. The COSCO Galaxy, which was almost exactly the same size, forged a smooth passage through the waterway despite having to battle the same windy conditions. Why did one ship sail through the canal safely and the other crash? Francesco overlays the tracking data of the Ever Given and the COSCO Galaxy.The resulting image lays bare the different paths of the two ships. As they entered the canal, the wind pushed both ships towards the left bank. The Ever Given veered particularly close. Both ships then slightly increased their speed as they approached a bend. This would have made them more maneuverable. The more water that rushes past a ship's rudder, the faster it turns.But halfway through the bend, the Galaxy slowed back down while the Ever Given sped up.Francesco Morelli: The difference between the two is that they went through the curve of the canal at different speeds.The COSCO Galaxy kept a moderate and constant speed. The Ever Given increased its speed up to nearly 14 knots.Narrator: In strong winds, big ships are often easier to control the faster they go. But within the confines of the canal, high speeds can cause problems.Francesco Morelli: When a ship like the Ever Given nears the side of the canal, hydrodynamic effects suck the ship towards the nearest bankThis is called “bank effect''. And the bigger the speed, the bigger the bank effect.Narrator: As the Ever Given moved through the canal, its vast bulk displaced hundreds of thousands of tons of water. This rushed past the hull and formed a bow wave at the front. Francesco believes that as the ship got close to the bank, the bow waves formed a cushion that pushed the bow away. But further back, as the gap between ship and bank narrowed, the water flowed faster.When a fluid speeds up, pressure in the fluid drops, which in this case, created suction that pulled the stern towards the bank.Just a small increase in speed leads to a big increase in this so-called bank effect.Francesco's analysis suggests that the Ever Given’s high speed caused it to lurch from experiencing bank effect on one side of the canal to bank effect on the other, and eventually to crash.

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The Crash That Shut Down the Global Economy, Explained

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Solar Power Could Reinvent the Shipping Industry—If We Let It

Ultimate Cruise Ship

Why Ships Crash