The <i>Ever Given </i>is nearly 400 metres long but for nearly a week it brought billions of dollars of global trade to a total standstill. The Suez Canal Authority is looking at demanding $1bn in compensation. Hundreds of other shipping companies are likely to do the same. So how did all of this happen, how did it impact you and how do we stop it from happening again? Those are the questions we ask this week on Beyond the Headlines as we're joined by two maritime experts, former Royal Navy Captain Garry Northwood and former merchant navy officer turned maritime analyst for data company Refinitiv, Ranjith Raja. The 220,000-tonne container ship ran aground on March 23 in the southern part of the canal and was freed on Monday. The initial backlog of 422 ships was estimated to take three-and-a-half days to clear, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said on Tuesday. According to the shipping journal Lloyd’s List, each day of blockage disrupts goods worth more than $9 billion, translating to about $400 million an hour. "The accident showed the world the importance of the Suez Canal after some people spoke about alternative routes," Mr El Sisi said
