The Container Ship Blocking The Suez Canal Noticed In Microsoft Flight Simulator – IFLScience

Update 29/03/2021 (15:00): The Ever Given has been freed from the shoreline and is moving again, opening the Suez Canal for regular traffic.

Unless youve had your head stuck in the sand, you may have heard about a certain large ship that is currently blocking the Suez Canal. One of the most important trading routes in the world, the blockagehas disrupted a huge number of cargo shipsand iscausing an estimated loss of trade to the tune of $6 billion to $10 billion.

Of course,ever the sympathetic and benevolent force, theinternet has come out in pristine form to create an abundance of memes,uncover more hilarious parts to the story, and even make games based on it.

Now, amodderon Microsoft Flight Simulator has brought the game up to date by adding theEver Given into the Suez Canal in-game. For a game thatpridesitself on realism and accurate simulation, it is truly fitting.

In a video posted toTikTok, user @donut_enforcement shared themoddedcreation as he flew over the Suez Canal, commentating the hilarious new model. He accompanied the video with the caption Microsoft Flight Sim is a savage, and were inclined to agree.

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Unfortunately, this isjust a mod and probably wont be in the vanilla game.

The Ever Given isa Golden-class container ship, making it one of the largest vessels in the world, that is operated by Evergreen Marine. Whilst running a standard route towards Rotterdam, NL,the 220,000-metric ton ship was blown sideways by a severe dust storm, spinning it and firmly wedging bothendsinto the narrow banks of the Suez Canal.With a tiny width of under 1000 ft at its narrowest point, the Suez Canal is a nightmare for large vessels tonavigate already, let alone in poor visibility and strong winds.

Captain Bill Kavanaugh, a lecturer in navigation at the National Maritime College of Ireland, explained to The Pat KennyShow what the stresses of travelling through this international choke-point is really like.

The procedure is very stressful for the ship. Those ships are on the high seas and have a very good routine. Then they arrive in Port Said or even Suez and suddenly all hell breaks loose. Kavanaugh explains.

Luckily, there appears to be hope in the story. Just today, the Ever Given was finally refloatedfrom the shoreline,correcting the course by 80%. Whilst the bow remains lodged in shallow waters, the rescue crews hope tomake an attempt at shifting the vessel once high tide arrives later in the day.However, experts warn that it will not be an easy operation, and that caution should be taken beforehopes are held too high.

In the meantime, the ESA has now released incredible satellite images depicting the Ever Given lodged in its positionon the 25thMarch and the resulting traffic jam backed up in the Gulf of Suez.

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[H/T: PCGamer]

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The Container Ship Blocking The Suez Canal Noticed In Microsoft Flight Simulator - IFLScience