Reuters - Shipping rates for oil product tankers have nearly doubled this week and several vessels were diverted away from the Suez Canal as a giant container ship remained wedged between both banks on Friday (March 26).
The 400-metres long Ever Given has been stuck in the canal since Tuesday (March 23) and efforts are underway to free the vessel, although the process may take weeks amid bad weather.
The suspension of traffic through the narrow channel linking Europe and Asia has deepened problems for shipping lines that were already facing disruption and delays in supplying retail goods to consumers.
Analysts expect a larger impact on smaller tankers and oil products, particularly naphtha and fuel oil exports from Europe to Asia if the canal remained shut for weeks.
More than 30 oil tankers have been waiting at either side of the canal to pass through since Tuesday, shipping data on Refinitiv showed.
