---
title: "The Ever Given Is Back in the Suez Canal as Cousin Ship Sits Beached in Chesapeake Bay"
description: "While the Ever Given revisits the Suez Canal almost a year after it got infamously stuck there, its cousin ship has run aground in the Chesapeake Bay."
date: "2022-03-15"
modified: "2022-03-15"
authors:
  - name: "Victoria Scott"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/victoria-scott"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/44769/the-ever-given-is-back-in-the-suez-canal-as-cousin-ship-sits-beached-in-chesapeake-bay"
categories:
  - "Culture"
  - "News"
tags:
  - "boats"
---

# The Ever Given Is Back in the Suez Canal as Cousin Ship Sits Beached in Chesapeake Bay

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2022/03/GettyImages-1234429015-2.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Almost one year ago to the day, the Evergreen-operated ship [*Ever Given* pulled the wildest accidental maneuver](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/39916/suez-canal-totally-blocked-after-one-of-the-worlds-largest-container-ships-runs-aground>) in modern shipping history and perfectly blocked the entire Suez Canal for six straight days. Now, it's headed back through, and it does so as its sister ship *Ever Forward* currently sits [run aground in the Chesapeake Bay](<https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2022/03/14/coast-guard-tries-to-free-container-ship-stranded-in-the-chesapeake-bay/>).

We'll start with the ship that captured the attention of the entire world almost one year ago. The *Ever Given* is currently at the southern entrance to the Suez, waiting to pass through. It set out from Malaysia 11 days ago and should be passing through the canal, which handles [roughly 12 percent of total global trade](<https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/trade/mfat-market-reports/market-reports-middle-east/the-importance-of-the-suez-canal-to-global-trade-18-april-2021/>) per year. That's a fairly common thing to do, after all, as the Suez Canal sees an average of 50 ships and anywhere from $3 billion to $9 billion worth of cargo per day. It's been a vital channel for world commerce since its opening in 1869.

![message-editor%2F1647367016566-evergiven.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1647367016566-evergiven.jpg>)
**Vesselfinder**

The *Ever Given* itself is one of the largest container ships on the planet, measuring in at a staggering 1,312 feet long with a 199,626-ton [deadweight tonnage](<https://www.britannica.com/technology/deadweight-tonnage>)—that is, how much maximum weight it can carry. This puts it in a seven-way tie (all with other Evergreen-operated vessels) for the 14th largest ship on the planet.

As a result of this incredible mass and the importance of the Suez, it was a unique problem when on March 23, 2021, it was blown off-course in the middle of the canal and performed an accidental parallel parking job that [blocked one of the most vital trade routes](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/39943/satellite-images-show-huge-traffic-jam-of-180-cargo-ships-growing-around-blocked-suez-canal>) mankind has ever constructed. [Economists at Allianz estimated](<https://www.allianz.com/en/economic_research/publications/specials_fmo/2021_03_26_SupplyChainDisruption.html>) that $400 million in global GDP was lost *per hour* during the six days that the massive ship blocked the Suez, and the ship was held for months in [legal limbo](<https://shippingwatch.com/carriers/article13135631.ece>) as it [required lengthy repairs](<https://www.twz.com/42979/this-is-the-damage-done-to-that-huge-container-ship-that-clogged-the-suez-canal>) even after it was [finally excavated from the canal](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/39972/the-stuck-suez-canal-boat-is-on-the-move-six-days-after-disrupting-the-global-shipping-industry>).

https://twitter.com/_/status/1376484214019928066

Of course, the ship's grounding became an instant meme, because while the implications for global trade were terrifying, seeing a giant boat stuck in the middle of a canal like it was an [Austin Powers bit](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGiQOCX9UbM>) was perfect internet comedy material.

Now, the ship is passing through again, and while it's done this a [few times since the incident](<https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-58288512>), yet another vessel operated by Evergreen has run aground in a critical location, this time the 1,095-foot long *Ever Forward.*

https://twitter.com/_/status/1503516528058195974

The Hong Kong-flagged *Ever Forward* is [currently beached in the Chesapeake Bay](<https://www.vesselfinder.com/?imo=9850551>), just outside of Washington D.C. Coast Guard authorities have not given an explanation yet beyond the mathematical fact that the ship operates at a depth of 50 feet and is currently stuck where the water is only 25 feet deep. While this doesn't block trade as devastatingly as the *Ever Given* incident a year ago did, as ship traffic is still possible, it has caused reduced traffic; the Craighill Channel, the section of the bay it ran aground in, is reduced to one-way traffic with lower speed limits.

While the *Ever Forward* is being refloated, hopefully, the *Ever Given* finds itself much luckier than it did a year ago. With the entire world's eyes on a single vessel, I can definitively say I do not envy the captain as they head into the Suez.

*Got a tip or question for the author? Contact her directly: victoria.scott@thedrive.com*

## Author
Victoria Scott is a former staff writer for The Drive. She began in the automotive industry as a freelancer in early 2021, fresh out of a programming job at NASA Mission Control.

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/vantimevictoria/>)  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/reimuracing>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/mikurubaeahina>)