Wind ... or worse: was pilot error to blame for the Suez blockage?

The trouble started at 5:17am. Ever Given, an Ultra Large Container Vessel (ULCV) loaded with 20,000 containers, had set off up the Suez canal a quarter of an hour earlier from the south, in the bay of Suez.

This is how the canal works: ships anchor the night before and wait to set off early the following morning – one convoy southbound from Port Said starting at 3.30am, the northbound one at 5:00am. They meet each other at Great Bitter Lake, where the southbound convoy anchors to let the other pass. Consider a country lane with passing spots, only for ships the height of buildings, travelling at the speed of a scooter.

There are convoys because for much of its 120-mile length the canal is narrow. A two-way system was constructed at great expense by Egypt in 2015, shortening the southbound convoy transit to 11 hours. But it only runs for 22 miles. For the rest of the passage, the ships must travel single file down a very slim route.

Ever Given was big, and she was heavy. As is normal in global shipping, her usual