TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Amid the global shipping crisis caused by a ship chartered by Taiwan's Evergreen Marine Corp., a truck carrying an Evergreen container caused a massive traffic jam on a busy expressway in China.
The Panama-flagged Ever Given, chartered by Evergreen Marine Corp. and owned by Japanese firm Shoei Kisen Kaisha, became wedged sideways in the middle of the Suez Canal on March 23. As of the time of publication, the gargantuan vessel is still stuck, delaying US$9.6 billion in maritime traffic per day.
On Saturday (March 27) traffic camera footage surfaced of a truck carrying a bright green Evergreen container involved in an accident on a busy expressway in China's Jiangsu Province, causing a long line of vehicles to be jam-packed behind it. As can be seen from the timestamp, the photo was taken at 9:55 a.m. on the Changchun-Shenzhen Expressway in Nanjing.
Given the significant disruption to global supply chains caused by the Ever Given, netizens quickly shared the photo on social media, both in China and across the globe. Many pointed out that the scene appeared to be an uncanny land version of the canal conundrum, with the truck even stuck at the same 45-degree angle to the right as the mega-ship.
Chinese users of Weibo had a field day poking fun at the Taiwanese company:
"This looks very familiar..."
"Yes! This business coverage is very comprehensive, blocking the sea, land, and air."
"Good guy! Sea, land, and air, it hasn't missed anything. Here comes EVA Air."
"This is Taiwan independence."
International netizens also jumped on the bandwagon:
"It happened again."
"Evergreen in Suez... and now... Evergreen in China..."
"Just outta curiosity, will the shipping line get their pants sued off?"
"Everstuck"
"The whole world knows Taiwan is ruled by 'Green.'"
Evergreen Group claims it does not operate a trailer truck line in China, reported China Times.
Although Evergreen is the charter, the owner and shipbuilder are Japanese, the captain and crew are Indian, the pilots are Egyptian, the operator is German, the insurer is British, the cargo was made in China, the salvors are Dutch, the ship is Panamanian, and the classification society is American.
(Weibo image)
(Weibo image)