The family of Ever Given regrets to inform fans of the container ship’s decision on Monday afternoon to indefinitely leave the public eye.
Catapulted to international fame after becoming impossibly lodged in the shores of the Suez Canal on March 23, Ever Given became the most iconic container ship of the 21st century overnight. Some blame strong winds from a freak dust storm for the accident, others blame piloting errors, but one thing is certain — Ever Given was prepared for its moment of stardom.
One of the biggest ships in existence at over 1300 feet in length (longer than the Empire State Building is tall!), Ever Given seemed destined for success since its launch in 2018.
However, Ever Given always felt like a “regular kid” despite its mammoth size, crediting this sense of normalcy to being the fourth-oldest in a line of eleven equally massive ships in the Golden class of Evergreen Marine. His ten siblings — Ever Golden, Ever Genius, Ever Gifted, Ever Glory, Ever Globe, Ever Goods, Ever Grade, Ever Gentle, Ever Govern and Ever Greet — were unavailable for comment at the time of writing.
The ship had had a brush with infamy once before in its life. In February 2019, Ever Given collided with a German passenger ferry on the Elbe River. The ferry was severely damaged, but Ever Given, as resilient (and remorseless) as ever, continued on its path unharmed.
Although impressive, the Elbe incident pales in comparison Ever Given’s run-in with the Suez Canal. Lost transit fees, damage to the canal and dredging machinery brought the cost of unblocking Ever Given to nearly $1 billion for the Egyptian government.
Some 367 ships had to wait in the traffic jam around the one-way shipping passage, and a dozen others decided to skip the canal entirely and take the scenic route around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.
When Ever Given was finally freed on Monday, March 29, it was the breathtaking conclusion to a glorious six-day stint of Twitter stardom. The ship had managed to unite the world through giddy memes and commentary to a degree rarely seen since former President Trump got COVID-19 in October 2020.
For many, Ever Given was more than a container ship. It was a symbol of the fragility of our global economy, a reminder of life’s unpredictability and a reminder to demand the world’s attention if and when we need it. Ever Given proved it’s the journey that counts, not the destination.
Ever Given’s time in the Suez Canal is survived by its legions of fans, thousands of memes and the rest of the “Ever G” fleet. Its death was preceded by that of the ship pilot’s career.
An estimated $9 billion a day in global trade may have been delayed by Ever Given’s star moment, but the memories we made were priceless.
Cécile Girard is a 21-year-old psychology junior from Lake Charles.
