'Ever Given' in Suez Canal: Here's how the full moon rescued global trade

Helped by high tides during the full moon, a flotilla of tugboats managed to pull the skyscraper-sized Ever Given from the Suez Canal's sandy bank.

Business Desk, ETV Bharat: There was a sigh of relief across the global trading community on Monday when the stranded ship ‘Ever Given' was set free in the Suez Canal after nearly a week-long effort.

What makes the rescue mission interesting is how the nature came into the play in the form of a full moon to supplement the human endeavour to refloat the giant ship that got struck sideways in the one-lane waterway bringing around 30 per cent of global container trade to a halt.

As soon as the Ever Given resumed its journey, Peter Berdowski, CEO of Boskalis, the salvage firm hired to extract the ship, told Dutch radio station NPO 1 that Monday’s strong tide helped push the ship at the top while the flotilla of tugboats pulled at the bottom.

“We were helped enormously by the strong falling tide we had this afternoon. In effect, you have the forces of nature pushing hard with you and they pushed harder than the two sea tugs could pull,” he added.

According to the New York Times, the Suez Canal could have experienced water levels about 18 inches (46 centimeters) higher than usual on Monday due to the full moon.

The Suez Canal, a man-made waterway, connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea.

Like any other water bodies on the globe, water level keeps fluctuating with tides and these fluctuations are more prominent during a full moon phase.

As the Earth aligns with both the sun and the moon during a full moon period, a greater gravitational force is exerted on the Earth resulting in more dramatic high and low tides.

(With Agency Inputs)