Global Supply Chains Under Pressure: The Ever Given Incident

One ship runs aground across a canal, and trade around the world grinds to a halt. In March 2021, the Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container ships, became stuck in the Suez Canal. It triggered a global supply chain crisis at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic had already left medical consumables in short supply.

What initially looked like a dramatic shipping accident turned into a global stress test for supply chains, manufacturing and trade within days.

The incident showed how much the global economy depends on a handful of critical trade routes. A single blockage can delay goods around the world. How did the ship run aground, and what can companies learn from the incident today?

What Are Global Supply Chains?

Global supply chains are international networks of production, transport and distribution that move raw materials, components and finished products around the world.

These networks involve several stages.

• extraction of raw materials
• industrial production
• international logistics
• distribution to businesses or end customers

The more complex these networks become, the more vulnerable they are to disruptions such as geopolitical conflict, natural events or blocked trade routes.

Key Points at a Glance

• The Ever Given blockage in the Suez Canal exposed the vulnerability of global supply chains.
• Around 12% of world trade passes through this route. A single disruption left hundreds of ships waiting and caused delivery problems worldwide.
• The disruption hit just-in-time production and industries with highly globalised supply chains particularly hard.
• Companies can make their supply chains more resilient through diversification, transparency, long-term contracts and regional production.
• Regional production and European supply chains can play an important role in securing supplies.

Contents

• A Traffic Jam on One of the World’s Most Important Shipping Routes
• The Moment the Ship Ran Aground
• The Impact on Global Supply Chains
• What Procurement Teams Can Learn
• Five Ways to Build More Resilient Supply Chains
• Securing Supplies Through Regional Production
• Conclusion: Why Global Supply Chains Need a Rethink
• Frequently Asked Questions About Global Supply Chains

A Traffic Jam on One of the World’s Most Important Shipping Routes

The Suez Canal is one of the most important chokepoints in global supply chains. Around 12% of world trade passes through it.

The canal is a transport artery nearly 200 kilometres long in the heart of Egypt. Around 18,000 ships pass through this link between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean every year, making the canal a key point in global supply chains.

One morning in March 2021, traffic suddenly stopped. The Ever Given, a ship with capacity for around 20,000 containers, had become wedged across the canal, blocking one of the world’s busiest shipping routes.

Ships on either side of the canal suddenly had to decide whether to wait or take the detour around Africa, which would add around 6,000 kilometres to their journey.

Hundreds of ships soon backed up. The local blockage had become a major disruption to global supply chains.

The Moment the Ship Ran Aground

On the morning of 23 March 2021, the heavily laden Ever Given was sailing through the Suez Canal, with other ships ahead and behind. A passage through the canal usually takes about 11 to 16 hours. The alternative route around the Cape of Good Hope would take several days longer.

That morning, strong winds swept through the region and visibility was poor. The Ever Given was travelling at around 12 to 13 knots, above the canal’s substantially lower speed limit.

In narrow waterways, these conditions can trigger the bank effect described below.

A ship as large as the Ever Given displaces a great deal of water. If it travels too fast, water flows along its hull and creates a bow wave that acts like a cushion, pushing the bow away from the bank. At the same time, lower pressure at the stern pulls it towards the bank.

Once a ship of this size starts to yaw, it becomes very difficult to control. That is what happened to the Ever Given.

The bow drove deep into the canal’s sandy bank while the stern drifted towards the opposite side. The canal was completely blocked.

It took around six days of intensive salvage work to refloat the ship.

The Impact on Global Supply Chains

For nearly a week, the Ever Given blocked one of the world’s most important trade routes. Around 400 ships waited for the canal to reopen.

They carried all kinds of goods, including food, raw materials, industrial products and medical supplies.

The canal reopened after a few days, but the consequences lasted much longer. Delayed vessels arrived at ports at the same time, containers were missing elsewhere and production chains slowed down.

Industries that rely heavily on tightly scheduled just-in-time deliveries felt the effects immediately. Even small delays can bring production lines to a halt.

Transport costs also rose, putting additional pressure on logistics networks that were already stretched during the pandemic.

The incident made clear how much the global economy depends on stable, functioning supply chains.

In healthcare in particular, it exposed the risks of relying heavily on just a few production regions.

What Companies Can Learn

Increasing warehouse space alone cannot solve the problem. Many companies cannot or do not want to build up substantially larger inventories.

The Ever Given incident showed the risks of procurement strategies focused solely on reducing costs.

Procurement teams are increasingly asking how to build global supply chains that can withstand disruptions and crises while remaining cost-effective.

Five Ways to Build More Resilient Supply Chains

Prioritise

Companies should assess how critical individual products are. For safety-critical or legally required products, supply security should carry more weight than the purchase price alone.

Diversify

Using several suppliers is often insufficient if they all source from the same region. Combining different production regions and transport routes makes supply chains more resilient. For critical products, at least one source should be independent of the same geographical, logistical or political risks.

Improve Transparency

Bottlenecks often occur at upstream production stages. Companies with more visibility into their supply chains can detect risks much earlier and respond more effectively.

Secure Supplies

Long-term supply agreements, framework contracts and priority deliveries during a crisis can improve stability and help companies plan ahead.

Source Regionally

For particularly critical goods, it may make sense to source a share of supplies through European supply chains or local production. Shorter transport routes reduce logistical risks and make the supply chain easier to monitor and manage.

Supply Security Starts With Production

At BISON Polymers, we make our nitrile disposable gloves in Germany and deliberately rely on an entirely European supply chain.

For our customers, this means shorter transport routes and, above all, a more stable supply. Much of the world’s disposable glove supply comes from Asia and depends heavily on global supply chains. A substantial share of our value chain takes place within Europe.

This reduces logistical risks and CO₂ emissions and makes the supply chain easier to see and manage.

This can make a significant difference for healthcare institutions and companies in the PPE sector when global supply chains come under pressure.

Conclusion: Why Global Supply Chains Need a Rethink

The Ever Given incident showed how vulnerable global supply chains are to individual disruptions. Blocking a single trade route can delay production worldwide, increase transport costs and cause supply shortages.

The incident happened several years ago, but its lessons are as relevant as ever.

At the time of writing, similar pressures were emerging in the Middle East. Geopolitical tensions involving the United States, Iran and Israel affected another key trade route, the Strait of Hormuz. It is one of the world’s most important shipping routes, particularly for energy and raw materials.

In many respects, the consequences resemble those of the Ever Given blockage. Transport routes become longer, costs rise and delivery times become less predictable. Resilient global supply chains are essential to security of supply and economic stability.

Companies that start diversifying their supply chains, incorporating regional production capacity and securing supplies of critical products today will be better prepared for future crises.

Author

Andreas Zimmer
Social Media & Content Creator at BISON Polymers

Focus areas:
Supply chains and supply security in healthcare and industry.

Frequently Asked Questions About Global Supply Chains

Why Are Global Supply Chains Vulnerable to Disruption?

Global supply chains consist of many interdependent stages of production and transport. If a key transport route or supplier is disrupted, delays can spread throughout the chain.

What Events Can Disrupt Global Supply Chains?

Global supply chains can be disrupted by geopolitical conflict, blocked trade routes such as in the Ever Given incident, natural disasters, pandemic-related production outages or raw material shortages.

What Role Does the Suez Canal Play in World Trade?

The Suez Canal is one of the world’s most important trade routes. Around 12% of global trade passes through this link between Europe and Asia.

How Can Companies Make Their Supply Chains More Resilient?

Companies can strengthen their supply chains by diversifying suppliers, planning alternative transport routes and sourcing some critical products regionally.