一艘船如何引发全球大堵塞：英语精读讲义

On March 23,

3月23日，

2021,

2021年，

the container ship Ever Given was on its journey

集装箱船“长赐号”正在航行，

between the port of Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia

往返于马来西亚丹戎帕拉帕斯港

and Rotterdam in the Netherlands

和荷兰鹿特丹之间，

when it was sailing through the Suez Canal in Egypt.

当时它正航行在埃及的苏伊士运河中。

According to the shipping company, 表達脈絡

据航运公司称，

the vessel was hit by a strong sandstorm

该船遭遇了强烈的沙尘暴，

with wind speeds up to 74 km an hour,

风速高达每小时74公里，

causing it to no longer be steerable. 語法

导致船只无法转向。

At 7:40 a.m. local time,

当地时间上午7点40分，

the ship rammed into the side wall of the canal. 短語搭配

船只撞上了运河侧壁。

About half an hour later,

大约半小时后，

the first Egyptian tugboats and firefighting ships arrived,

第一批埃及拖船和消防船赶到，

but freeing the ship will prove to be a difficult undertaking. 語法

但解救这艘船将是一项艰巨的任务。

The first images began to circulate on the internet 短語搭配

最早的图像开始在网络上流传，

and showed that the ship has dug itself into the side wall. 短語搭配

显示这艘船已经嵌进了侧壁。

And satellite images reveal how the ship is completely blocking passage

卫星图像显示这艘船是如何完全阻塞

through the canal.

运河通道的。

The Ever Given is a type of ship

“长赐号”是一艘

that can carry a maximum of 20,124 containers,

最多可运载20,124个集装箱的船只，

which makes it one of the largest container ships in the world. 語法

这使它成为全球最大的集装箱船之一。

To make the size clearer, 表達脈絡

为了让大家对其尺寸有更清晰的概念，

here is a person for comparison.

这里用一个人作为对比。

Here is the Titanic.

这是泰坦尼克号。

And here is the Empire State Building

这是帝国大厦

in New York laid on its side. 短語搭配

（位于纽约）横躺下来的长度。

Early attempts to free the ship with tugboats alone

早期仅使用拖船解救船只的尝试

did not lead to success,

并未取得成功，

and excavators began trying to free the ship.

挖掘机开始尝试挖出船体。

The profile of the Suez Canal is angled on the sides,

苏伊士运河的剖面两侧是倾斜的，

which means it only has its full depth in the middle.

这意味着只有中间才有最大深度。

A fleet of tugboats trying to free the Ever Given.

一支拖船队试图解救“长赐号”。

President Biden says the U.S. is ready to assist.

拜登总统表示，美国准备提供协助。

Dutch firm Smit Salvage and Nippon Salvage from Japan

荷兰斯密特打捞公司和日本打捞公司

have been brought in to rescue the Ever Given. 短語動詞

被请来协助解救“长赐号”。

Salvage crews have been working round the clock, 習語

打捞人员夜以继日地工作，

at the moment concentrating on digging tons of sand 短語搭配

目前正集中清理成吨的泥沙，

out from under the ship's bow and stern. 用詞

从船头和船尾下方挖出。

The stern of the vessel is now free,

船尾现在已经解困，

and the Egyptian authorities say they're hoping

埃及当局表示他们希望

higher tides and the arrival of more tugboats on Sunday

周日更高的涨潮以及更多拖船的到来

will help their operation.

能够帮助他们的行动。

The artificial canal connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.

这条人工运河连接着红海和地中海。

For the busy trade routes between the Indian Ocean and the North Atlantic,

对于印度洋和北大西洋之间繁忙的贸易航线来说，

the canal cuts travel times for container ships 短語搭配

运河缩短了集装箱船的航行时间

by around 8 to 10 days,

约8到10天，

as the only alternative is to circumnavigate the entire African continent.

因为唯一的替代方案是绕行整个非洲大陆。

The canal is an important source of revenue for Egypt. 短語搭配

运河是埃及重要的收入来源。

The country receives more than 5 billion US dollars annually

该国每年通过过境费获得

through transit fees,

超过50亿美元的收入，

which in turn means that the average price per transit 表達脈絡

这也意味着平均每次过境的费用

is over $300,000.

超过了30万美元。

One limitation, however, 表達脈絡

然而，一个限制是，

is that a large part of the route

航线的很大一部分

can only be shipped in a single lane.

只能进行单向通航。

Therefore, traffic has to alternate 短語搭配

因此，交通必须在

between north traveling and south traveling ships.

北向和南向航行的船只之间交替进行。

There are waiting areas,

沿途设有等待区，

such as in the Great Bitter Lake,

例如大苦湖，

where ships can hold for traffic,

船只可以在此等待通行，

and where they have the opportunity to turn around if necessary. 短語動詞

必要时还有机会掉头。

Since 2015,

自2015年起，

due to the construction of the New Suez Canal,

由于新苏伊士运河的建设，

a larger part of the canal has two lanes

运河的更大一部分拥有了双航道，

and is therefore navigable in both directions at the same time. 用詞

因此可以同时在双向航行。

However, there's only a single lane

然而，“长赐号”搁浅的地方

where the Ever Given is stuck,

只有单条航道，

which means all traffic on the canal

这意味着运河上的所有交通

has come to a standstill. 習語

都陷入了停滞。

Over the course of the blockage, 短語搭配

在堵塞期间，

about 370 ships were waiting for passage

约有370艘船只在等待通行，

on both sides of the canal,

停留在运河两侧，

and it is estimated that every day

据估计，每天

this incident held up goods worth $9.6 billion US dollars. 短語動詞

这一事件滞留了价值96亿美元的货物。

The uncertainty about how long the blockade will last

封锁将持续多久的不确定性，

makes it difficult for shipping companies to decide 語法

使航运公司很难决定

whether it makes more sense to wait until the canal is clear 短語搭配

究竟是等待运河畅通更合理，

or to send their ships on the way

还是让他们的船只改变航线

to the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa.

前往非洲南端的好望角。

Some have made this expensive decision,

一些公司做出了这个昂贵的决定，

including the Ever Greet,

包括“长迎号”（Ever Greet），

the sister ship of the Ever Given 用詞

它是阻塞运河的“长赐号”的

that blocks the canal.

姐妹船。

Both ships are operated by the shipping company Evergreen.

两艘船均由长荣海运公司运营。

Such a situation is particularly critical

这种情况尤其危急，

for ships that have livestock on board, 用詞

特别是对于装载牲畜的船只，

for which there is not enough water and food

它们没有足够的水和食物

for extremely long delays.

来应对极其漫长的延误。

And the blockade came at a very unfortunate time,

这次封锁发生的时机也非常不巧，

as global supply chains are already operating at their limit 習語

因为全球供应链已经超负荷运转，

because of a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

这正是COVID-19大流行的结果。

In many countries,

在许多国家，

the ratio of imports and exports has changed recently.

进出口比例最近发生了变化。

Lockdowns and decreased economic activity

封锁和经济活动的减少

lead to lower production and fewer exports in many places,

导致许多地方的产量降低和出口减少，

especially in Europe and North America.

尤其是在欧洲和北美。

By contrast, 表達脈絡

相比之下，

imports from Asia are still needed,

来自亚洲的进口依然被需要，

for example, from China

例如从中国进口，

where production was able to start up again much sooner. 短語動詞

那里的生产得以更早恢复。

This leads to an imbalance and a shortage of containers

这导致了集装箱的失衡和短缺，

because they leave Asia but do not come back at the same speed.

因为它们离开亚洲后，并没有以同样的速度返回。

North America currently faces a 40% imbalance of containers,

北美目前面临40%的集装箱失衡，

which means that for every 100 containers that arrive, 語法

这意味着每到达100个集装箱，

only 40 are exported back.

只有40个被出口返回。

The delays on the Suez Canal are stressing 習語

苏伊士运河的延误正在给

an already tense logistics system.

本已紧张的物流系统增加压力。

Heralded by a fanfare of horns, 語法

伴随着阵阵汽笛声的宣告，

the Ever Given is afloat at last.

“长赐号”终于重新浮起。

On March 29,

3月29日，

at about 3:00 p.m. local time,

当地时间下午3点左右，

roughly 150 hours since the ship got stuck,

也就是在船只搁浅大约150小时后，

authorities were able to free the vessel.

当局成功解救了这艘船。

They took advantage of high spring tides around full moon 短語搭配

他们利用了满月附近的大潮，

and used 14 tugboats to dislodge the Ever Given.

并使用14艘拖船将“长赐号”拖离。

The ship was then towed to the Great Bitter Lake for inspection,

随后，这艘船被拖至大苦湖进行检查，

and traffic along the Suez Canal continued at 7:00 p.m. local time.

苏伊士运河的交通于当地时间晚上7点恢复。

Even though the blockade is resolved,

尽管封锁已被解除，

it is expected that the large wave of container ships 語法

但预计大量集装箱船

arriving at ports in Europe and Asia in quick succession 短語搭配

接连不断地抵达欧洲和亚洲的港口，

will overwhelm the handling capacity of even the biggest ports.

将使即使是最大港口的吞吐能力也无法承受。

So the delay is expected to cause a ripple effect 習語

因此，这种延误预计会引发连锁反应，

that will add stress to port facilities and even inland infrastructure.

将给港口设施甚至内陆基础设施增加压力。

A maritime accident with global implications.

这是一场具有全球影响的海上事故。

Shipping analysts are already predicting disruption and price hikes.

航运分析师已经预测了供应链的中断和价格上涨。

Europe likely hit first with possible shortages of household products. 用詞

欧洲可能最先受到冲击，家庭用品可能出现短缺。

So if you're at the shops and what you want isn't there

所以，如果你在商店里找不到想要的东西，

or costs a bit more,

或者价格贵了一点，

remember that ship.

请记住这艘船。

It might seem as if this blockage doesn't affect us 語法

这次堵塞似乎并没有影响到我们，

because it's happening in indirect ways.

因为它正以间接的方式发生。

But it does,

但它确实影响了我们，

and not just some of us, 語法

而且不仅是我们中的一部分人，

but pretty much all of us.

而是几乎所有人。

About 12% of the world trade volume passes through the Suez Canal,

全球约12%的贸易量通过苏伊士运河，

and a complete blockage of it,

而它的完全堵塞，

even just for a few days,

哪怕只有几天，

affects an astounding amount of goods and resources

也会影响数量惊人的货物和资源，

and causes severe economic effects,

并造成严重的经济影响，

both due to direct damages 語法

既因为直接的损失，

as well as due to the uncertainty that it creates.

也因为它制造的不确定性。