MONTREAL -- The grounding of a skyscraper-sized container ship in Egypt's Suez Canal has the potential to disrupt shipments from Asia to ports in Montreal and Halifax, industry experts and shipping companies say.
The Ever Given, a Panama-flagged ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe, became wedged across the waterway on Tuesday, blocking traffic in one of the world's most vital corridors for international trade.
"If it's a short shutdown, it wouldn't be that much different than a major weather event," said Lane Farguson, a spokesman for the Port of Halifax, which he said is a major recipient of manufactured goods from Asia. "The longer the delay, then the more things back up."
The port is monitoring the situation, Farguson said, adding that it is still too early to tell what the impact of the shutdown will be on its operations.
Although the majority of cargo from Asia travels to Canada via the Pacific Ocean, there is a portion that comes through the Suez Canal, said Johanna Stroex, a spokeswoman for Hapag-Lloyd AG, one of the largest operators of container ships.
Goods transported to Canada along those routes are mainly retail and consumer goods, Stroex said.
Nicolas Poirier-Quesnel, a spokesman for the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, which oversees the waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Great Lakes, said wind energy components from Southeast Asia pass through the seaway.
Still, the organization expects a minimal impact from the shutdown, since the majority of the cargo passing through the St. Lawrence Seaway originates from Europe, North Africa and the Mediterranean and does not pass through the canal, Poirier-Quesnel said.
It is unclear when traffic in the Suez Canal will return to normal. An Egyptian official said efforts to refloat the ship stuck in the canal are underway and will take at least two days.
Evergreen Marine Corp., the Taiwan-based shipping company that operates the ship, said in a statement that the Ever Given had been overcome by strong winds as it entered the canal from the Red Sea but none of its containers had sunk.
