Last Chance For The Ever Given Story

The story of the Ever Given, the ship that blocked the Suez Canal for a week in 2021, has been superbly captured in a documentary that expires on BBC iplayer on 7th September.

The programme was originally broadcast last year, but has been repeated on BBC Two this month, and in our view provides a very good account of what happened during the event that was reported to have cost global trade up to $9.6 billion.

Watching the documentary could also serve as a useful guide to understanding more about international logistics as it also provides insight into other aspects of container shipping. This includes the plight of one UK importer who had to wait four months for his goods to arrive and also had to pay a percentage of the salvage costs due to the maritime principle of 'General Average'.

Round the world voyages have to traverse either the Suez or Panama Canals, or both. During the past two years, we have witnesses the fragility of these shipping routes following the Suez blockage and the knock on effects of a severe drought that is congesting the Panama Canal right now

The programme can be viewed here until 7th September: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0013p1f/why-ships-crash, or you should be able to find on BBC iplayer apps by searching for the name of the show: 'Why Ships Crash'.