This week began with a bit of good (international) news as salvage teams set free the Ever Given - a massive container ship that halted global trade through the Suez Canal.
On Monday (March 29), the 222,000-ton vessel was able to move away from the shoreline thanks to a combination of high tide and a flotilla of tugboats that managed to wedge the ship free.
According to the Associated Press, the ship which created a traffic jam in the popular transportation passage held up $9 billion each day in global trade. More than 19,000 ships pass through the canal last year.
While it’s unclear if the Ever Given - which was destined to Europe - will continue to its destination of Rotterdam, one thing is clear: the ship’s size was one of the many factors which challenged those who helped set it free.
Coming in at 400 metres, placed vertically, the Ever Given is nearly as long as the Empire State Building.
If it’s difficult to place that visual into context, Twitter user Garrett Dash Nelson created an app no one knew they needed: the Ever Given Ever Ywhere.
I took 10 minutes out of my life to create a @glitch app that lets you wedge the Ever Given anywhere you want in the world. Here it is stuck in Boston Harbor.https://t.co/Cmm5Z2OmNg pic.twitter.com/ZevoBSFaEg
— Garrett Dash Nelson (@en_dash) March 28, 2021
“Why should the Suez Canal have all the fun? From the comfort of home you can get the Ever Given stuck wherever you want,” he writes.
Any user can move the boat across the world, placing the boat to scale anywhere or changing its size.
“Get it stuck in a swimming pool or across the entire Atlantic Ocean,” added Nelson.
And if you’re curious, we went there.
Here’s what the ship looks like (to scale) relative to some popular Comox Valley landmarks:
