A ship that is the length of the Empire State Building, nearly a quarter-mile long, is blocking the Suez Canal, causing a ripple effect on shipping around the world. The AP reports:

The Ever Given, a Panama-flagged ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground Tuesday in the narrow, man-made canal dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula. Images showed the ship’s bow was touching the eastern wall, while its stern looked lodged against the western wall — an extraordinary event that experts said they had never heard of happening before in the canal’s 150-year history.

There are differing reports over whether the ship was overcome by wind or simply faced a complete blackout.

The New York Times adds, “By Wednesday morning, more than 100 ships were stuck at each end of the 120-mile canal, which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean and carries roughly 10 percent of worldwide shipping traffic. Only the Panama Canal looms as large in the global passage of goods.”

The AP adds that “Tugboats strained Wednesday to try to nudge the obstruction out of the way.” There are also reports that crews may be considering digging the boat out.

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