March 21, 2022

USA: Shipping Container Named Ever Forward Was En Route To Norfolk, Virginia, When It Got Stuck In The Chesapeake Bay On March 13th One Year After Sister Ship Ever Given Was Stuck In Suez Canal

WJZ published March 18, 2022: Ever Forward Could Remain In The Chesapeake Bay For Over A Week As Officials Plan Delicate Operation. In a WJZ exclusive, Ava-joye Burnett joined the US Coast Guard for a closer look at the Ever Forward, a massive container ship that has been stuck in the Chesapeake Bay for nearly a week now.

Bloomberg News
written by Augusta Saraiva and Cindy Wang
Monday March 14, 2022

A year after a giant container ship got stuck in the Suez Canal for almost a week and disrupted global trade for months, another Evergreen Marine Corp. vessel has run aground, this time near the U.S. capital.

The Hong Kong-flagged Ever Forward got stranded after departing the Port of Baltimore Seagirt Terminal on Sunday night, according to mapping data compiled by Bloomberg. The 334-meter (1,096-foot) vessel was en route to Norfolk, Virginia, when it got stuck in the Chesapeake Bay.

“The ship’s grounding is not preventing other ships from transiting to the Port of Baltimore,” Maryland Port Administration Executive Director William P. Doyle said in a statement. “Efforts have been underway since last night to try and free the ship and will continue today. The Coast Guard is monitoring the situation.”

Evergreen has arranged for divers to inspect the vessel for any damage and is participating in coordinated efforts to refloat the ship as soon as possible, the company said in a text message Tuesday. An investigation into the cause of the grounding is underway, the company added.

Last year, the 400-meter-long Ever Given, an Evergreen-chartered ship that is longer than the Eiffel Tower and weighs 220,000 tons, got stuck in the Suez Canal for six days. The vessel and its 17,600 containers blocked the canal in both directions, resulting in a backlog of more than 400 ships delayed by the incident.
written by Associate Press
Monday March 21, 2022

BALTIMORE — Dredging has begun to free a cargo ship stranded in the Chesapeake Bay for more than a week, the U.S. Coast Guard said Monday.

A salvage company began dredging around the 1,095-foot Ever Forward on Sunday and the work is expected to continue throughout the week, Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Breanna Centeno said in an email. The grounded vessel is stable, poses no pollution threat and isn’t impacting Port of Baltimore operations, Centano said.

State and federal agencies have issued all permits, Maryland Port Administration Executive Director William P. Doyle tweeted. Doyle said dredged materials will be used to help rebuild Poplar Island, an island off the Eastern Shore that has suffered from severe erosion.

The Ever Forward was headed from the Port of Baltimore to Norfolk, Virginia, on March 13 when it ran aground north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The ship operated by Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine Corp. became stranded outside the shipping channel and officials have said there were no reports of injuries, damage or pollution.

Evergreen said Friday that a plan to refloat the Ever Forward involves dredging the bay’s muddy floor, releasing ballast to lighten the load and using tugboats and the ship’s main engine to free the vessel.

The Coast Guard has said officials have not yet determined what caused the Ever Forward to run aground. The ship isn’t blocking navigation in the channel, unlike last year’s high-profile grounding in the Suez Canal of its sister vessel, the Ever Given, which disrupted the global supply chain for days.

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