The Ever Given cargo ship is still blocking Egypt’s Suez Canal almost a week on, disrupting global supplies and costing international shipping companies huge amounts of money as their vessels wait around or switch to other, longer routes.
The remarkable situation unfolding in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes has attracted widespread attention as interested folks wait for updates on how and when the 400-meter-long Ever Given — one of the largest cargo ships ever built — might be moved.
With the 20,000-container vessel suddenly becoming one of the most famous ships in contemporary maritime history, map enthusiast Garrett Dash Nelson decided to have some fun by creating an entertaining web app that lets you place the troubled ship anywhere in the world.
Wanna see how the Ever Given would look clogging up the Hudson? Stick it right there. Curious what it would look like jammed across London’s River Thames? Just slot it in place. You can even drop it slap in the middle of the Grand Canyon, on the White House lawn, or inside the stadium of your favorite baseball team.
I took 10 minutes out of my life to create a @glitch app that lets you wedge the Ever Given anywhere you want in the world. Here it is stuck in Boston Harbor.https://t.co/Cmm5Z2OmNg pic.twitter.com/ZevoBSFaEg
— Garrett Dash Nelson (@en_dash) March 28, 2021
“Why should the Suez Canal have all the fun?” Garrett asks on the app’s webpage. “From the comfort of home you can get the Ever Given stuck wherever you want it. Drag and zoom the map to move this big old boat somewhere else. Click the rotate button to get it wedged perfectly.”
You can make the vessel big or small according to how you size the map, but truly curious folks can click the scale box to see how the Ever Given would really look were it to show up at your chosen location.
So what are you waiting for? Go lift the Ever Given out of the Suez Canal and take it on a trip around the world — a journey that the ship’s captain must surely be wishing could happen in reality right now.
Update: The Ever Given was refloated on March 29 local time, but rest assured, the app remains online for those keen to take the ship to new places.