The Ever Given, a cargo ship owned by a Japanese company, became stuck in a major shipping canal, due to poor visibility, as well as, high winds on March 23rd, 2021. The Suez Canal, located in Egypt, has become a main shipping and transportation route for many industries. The blockage of the canal caused delays for at least 300 other vessels. Many other industries had to make the tough decision to redirect their shipments around the course of Africa, which would delay those shipments for a few weeks. Each day the canal was blocked, there were billions of dollars not being traded. The Egyptian government was anxious for the canal to be unblocked, as well, because it was also losing money. 

   On Monday, March 29th, almost a week after the ship had become stuck, it was finally free. The company working on removing the blockage tried many different tactics but were unsuccessful in many of them as the large ship is about a fourth of a mile long. Eventually, they were able to get the ship free using tugboats, and the digging of the sand that had been holding the ship in place. The vessels waiting for the ships to be removed were eager to restart their journeys. It is expected that the delays of these vessels will cause a shortage in many items in the United States. While the ship is free, experts still warn that supplies could be impacted for months after this incident. Douglas Kent, from the Association for Supply Chain Management, stated to CNBC News, “We might celebrate the success of releasing the ship and unblocking the Suez but that’s not the end of the story here. It’s definitely going to continue to backlog ports and other delivery mechanisms as a result, and then of course the chaos that disrupts thereafter”(Stevens). There will be supplies that are going to be behind, so experts warn citizens to get their essentials to avoid any harm or discomfort.