一艘船，扼住了苏伊士运河的喉咙

此时此刻，在苏伊士运河上，几台挖土机正马不停蹄地运转，试图清除 “深陷”河道数日的货轮“长赐”号周边的淤泥。

3月23日，这艘长400米，载重22万吨的巨轮在行至苏伊士运河南端一处较为狭窄的单线区域时，遭遇突如其来的强风袭击，随后偏离了航道，意外触底搁浅，将这条全球水路贸易的“大动脉”无奈拦截。

无力脱困的巨轮顷刻间让这条堪称“全世界最繁忙”的海运枢纽陷入瘫痪，也把平均每小时近4亿美元的贸易量拦截在运河之外。

位于欧亚大陆和非洲交界地带的苏伊士运河，自古是船只往来亚欧非的重要通道，对整个海运市场的重要意义不言而喻。它承载着约占12%的世界贸易运输，平均每天有近50艘船舶从这里往来。

Rescue efforts are underway after a 224,000-ton Panama-flagged Ever Given giant container vessel got wedged across Egypt's Suez Canal on Tuesday.

The 400-meter-long, 200,000-tonne vessel, which is almost the same size as the Empire Building, is now blocking transit in both directions through one of the world's busiest shipping channels linking Asia and Europe, which accounts for about 12 percent of global trade.

除了被困的“天赐“号，还有200多艘船只正焦灼等待着运河恢复通行。

根据船舶实时位置网站数据显示，断航片刻，就有近100艘船在运河两端排起长龙。目前，苏伊士运河管理局已经暂时封闭了河道，直到搁浅的货轮完成脱浅，8艘拖引船和挖土机正在紧张工作，试图将“天赐“号尽快拖出重围。

此次苏伊士运河受阻对全球贸易的冲击显而易见，国际油价应声大涨。由于救援工作艰巨，运河“塞车”时间还将持续延长，预计会对个别地区的供应链造成严重破坏。

目前已有部分货轮选择改道绕行，船舶运价更是“水涨船高“，最终引发的一系列损失将难以估量。

A total of 206 large container ships, tankers carrying oil and gas, and bulk vessels hauling grain have backed up at either end of the canal, according to tracking data, creating one of the worst shipping jams seen for years.

The Suez Canal Authority dispatched tugboats, a dredger and diggers to refloat the ship after it ran aground, but little progress has been made.

The world's famous logistics company A.P. Moller Maersk said it was considering diverting vessels around Africa's Cape of Good Hope, adding five to six days to the journey between Asia and Europe. It said time-sensitive cargo could be sent on trains and airplanes, although no decisions had yet been made.

实际上，此次货轮搁浅苏伊士运河并非偶然。

作为全球最繁忙的通航通道之一，从此处通过的集装箱就占全世界的22%。然而，随着全球贸易量和货轮体量与日俱增，此前过度依赖于天然优势的苏伊士运河却日渐局促，即使之后埃及政府开始了运河的扩建工作，搁浅事件仍时有发生。

据参与救援的公司介绍，目前挖掘船仍在努力清淤，让船只重新浮起，拖离运河河岸，但救援作业“面临极大困难”，预计仍需要数周才能完成疏通工作。

航运贸易机构世界航运理事会表示，由于每天通航船只有限，将“长赐”号拖开后，可能还要花几天时间才能清除积压的船队。

"In cooperation with local authorities and Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, a vessel management company, we are trying to refloat [the Ever Given], but we are facing extreme difficulty," the owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha, said in a statement on Thursday.

"We sincerely apologize for causing a great deal of worry to ships in the Suez Canal and those planning to go through the canal," it added.

Shoei Kisen Kaisha said it was trying to resolve the situation as soon as possible, but the salvage company said that it may take weeks to free the huge container ship blocking the canal.