The giant cargo carrier blocking the Suez Canal was finally on the move Monday afternoon, nearly a week after it wedged sideways, causing billions of dollars worth of damage to global trade.
Just one comment here. Total global trade amounts to about $20 trillion, give or take a trillion or two. "Billions" is therefore something on the order of one five-thousandth of total trade—an amount that's literally less than a rounding error. When you hear about the cost of the big stuck boat, keep this in mind.
$9B per day x 10 days - 90B.
90/20,000. So annually yes, rounding error. How about monthly? Assuming uniform distribution that would put March at 1670 B. On a monthly basis it is significant - 5.4%
Biden dodges bullet with quick denouement to latest canal crisis.
"But is this the beginning of the end? Many seasoned political observers, including some in regular contact with the Biden administration, warn that a lack of urgency at the White House in addressing this crisis has only added to a perception of an administration that is, well, stuck in the mud."
"'This was a real chance for them show leadership, and assert the US on the world stage,' said one experienced Washington insider, who requested anonymity to speak freely. 'And instead what did we hear about? COVID, COVID, COVID, and infrastructure. Old news. Everybody already knows about those things.'"
"'And who did we hear about,' he asked. 'Dutch and British salvage firms. And the Egyptians -- the Egyptians. Who are they?''
"'His ratings are slipping,' the expert said, a warning that is borne out by entertainment industry data. And if ratings go south, can approval numbers be far behind?"
Where is this from?
A deep well of sarcastic cynicism.
Completely bought it.
Right.
I think the President might care about his "ratings" among American voters. I suspect American voters are concerned about Covid, and about progress in infrastructure, and about supporting a return to in-person schools, with a commitment to improving the aging school facilities, and ... etc.
I suspect if you interview a cross-section of American voters--both left- and right-leaning voters--you will find a great unanimity in their reaction to the Suez crisis: Laughter, followed by a big shrug of the shoulders. How some ship stuck in the Suez might concern Americans is a question deserving of some academic study. The crisis itself? Not so much.
Wouldn't have happened if it was a robot boat.
More notes indications from the future from Boston Dynamics,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYUuWWnfRsk
So long, Amazon union!
If I was a robot I wouldn't have had to edit that, and because I'm not a robot now I can't.
Too early to say. If a sand storm did really block all visual, radar, and GPS systems, a robot pilot would be just as blind as a human pilot.
I've been surprised that all the press reports had it (accurately, I assume) so low. I would have thought it would be much higher having the Suez shut down for a week. I guess global trade has enough pathways to absorb this kind of crunch better. (Which is great.)
Still expensive but I don't need to crack open the rations just yet.
I'd say the important thing here is not how much this incident cost, but how vulnerable global trade is to large scale disruption from a single incident. One ship without apparent negligence (as far as i've seen reported) or malign intent blocked a major percentage of international trade for close to 2 weeks. And the resolution was dependent on a lucky unusually high tide occurring. This could have been much much worse.
Not 2 weeks, not quite 1. 23 March - 29 March.
Ships going down happens a lot. Largely because unlike planes, on a ship the captain is still god. It could have been worse, but the event itself isn't that much of a warning.
Personally I think there is some evidence that suggests negligence (penis gps, lots of high winds but no other ship got in trouble).
My question is, why isn't the Suez canal wider than this?
Ah the old canal stoppage article eh?
Time for a Suez enema !!! Got 'er flowing again !!
In actuality this hurt Syria badly that does MOST of its trading with Iran through the Suez.
Thank God there were no COVID vaccines on board eh?
Still a huge ammount for 1 thing to cause.
Well, yes, but those billions are not extracted equally from all parts of the globe. Some are unaffected while others take a haircut that draws blood.
Ah, there's a new suggestion on the Trumpropaganda discussion boards. This was a terrorist attack! Haven't you noticed nobody has published the captain's name? That's a dead giveaway, apparently.
Anyway I want to know why there wasn't a rear-ender by the following ship and the kind of pile-up we see on the freeways when there's an accident in the fog.
Wouldn't have happened if the ship had been equipped with Jewish Space Lasers.