The Ever Given has recently been freed after being grounded across the Suez Canal. The ship, which was stuck in one of the banks of the canal in Egypt from the 23rd to the 29th of March, saw to it personally that a proportion of global maritime trade- 12%- was halted. While this event had severe consequences on the transport and supply of various goods, the internet loved it.
New meme templates of the Ever Given are cropping up across the web. Some relate directly to the current situation of the ship, others relate more to life in general, perhaps exposing an unexpected relatability. For many, this is a ‘crisis’ that we don’t have to worry about, a ‘disaster’ that doesn’t harm anyone nor ruins our lives. In a period where the news is read gravely, and any new change could turn our lives upside down, stories of a ship can be read humorously and with cathartic separation to our daily lives.
With vessels having to take an alternate journey around the Cape of Good Hope and the fear of piracy, online users of the blogging site tumblr. and the networking site twitter likened the situation to sailors centuries ago who had to follow similar routes. In a similar fashion, the boating disturbance was likened to a more toned-down version of the Titanic. Photo stills from the 1997 movie Titanic are also used to refer to the Ever Given.
The search engine, Google has launched a small addition to their website: if someone now searches on their site for the Ever Given, they will also find small ship emojis sliding across their screen. This celebrates the ship being freed and now sailing towards its destination.
However, not everyone is rejoicing at the news of the unblocking of the canal. The twitter tag “PUT IT BACK” was trending at about the time the Ever Given was set free. Although this may be taken with a pinch of internet satire salt, the event has sparked criticism of the current system. For example, why was such a long boat allowed in the much thinner canal in the first place? Why is the ecosystem of maritime trade hinging on two to three small passages of water? Although luckily no-one was injured in this instance, what lengths would corporations go to to cut corners and increase profits? Ananya Govindarajan, a student, says of the situation- “To think that one ship brought global trade to a near standstill for a good few days, that in itself is a testament to the nature of today’s systems being so highly specialised and efficient that the moment a spanner is thrown into the works, all hell breaks loose. I ultimately agree with the mass of memes that was part of the internet’s response to the blockage. Maybe put the boat back.”
