Selasa, 30 Maret 2021

Witness describes 'cold, heartless' stare from Derek Chauvin as he knelt on George Floyd's neck - Sky News

Police officer Derek Chauvin gave onlookers a "cold" and "heartless" stare as they pleaded with him to take his knee off George Floyd's neck, a witness has said.

The 18-year-old witness, who the court asked to be identified only by her first name Darnella, filmed the arrest that ended with Mr Floyd's death in May last year.

Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter.

He is accused of killing the handcuffed Mr Floyd, 46, by pinning him to the pavement for what prosecutors say was nine minutes and 29 seconds while arresting him on suspicion of using a fake $20 note.

At Hennepin County courthouse in Minneapolis, Darnella said Chauvin had continued to kneel on Mr Floyd's neck while another officer, Tou Thao, prevented onlookers from going to his aid.

Darnella said: "They definitely put their hands on the mace, and we all pulled back."

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Darnella, a 17-year-old who filmed the killing, told the court that she says sorry to George Floyd every night for not intervening to save his life.

Speaking of Chauvin, she said: "He just stared at us, looked at us. He had like this cold look, heartless. He didn't care. It seemed as if he didn't care what we were saying."

More from Derek Chauvin

Darnella had been walking to a convenience store with her nine-year-old cousin when she saw what was happening and she had sent the child inside because she did not want her to see " a man terrified, scared, begging for his life".

She told the court she had started filming because "it wasn't right - he was suffering, he was in pain".

Mr Floyd died after telling officers that he could not breathe and video showed onlookers angrily shouting at police to get off him.

His death sparked protests around the world against racism and police brutality.

Watching her footage in court, Darnella said she now looks at her father and other black men in her life and thinks about "how that could have been one of them".

She said: "I stay up at night apologising to George Floyd for not doing more... not saving his life."

"It's not what I should have done, it's what (Chauvin) should have done."

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'They did nothing to save a man'

Also on Tuesday, an off duty first responder - Genevieve Hansen - told the court she had witnessed the scene and had repeatedly asked to check Mr Floyd's pulse.

She said she had seen fluid coming from Mr Floyd's body and, being a qualified emergency medical technician, she knew that patients sometimes release their bladders when they are dying.

Her 911 call from the scene was played to the jury and she could be heard saying: "I literally watched police officers not take a pulse and not do anything to save a man."

Ms Hansen said she was told by police officer Thao to stay away from Mr Floyd while he was being knelt on, saying he had told her "If you are a Minneapolis firefighter, you would know better than to get involved".

Chauvin denies the charges against him.

His lawyer Eric Nelson is trying to prove that he and his fellow officers were in an increasingly tense situation, as onlookers became agitated by what was happening to Mr Floyd.

They have also argued that Chauvin did what he was trained to do.

Mr Floyd's death was not caused by Chauvin but instead by a combination of illegal drug use, heart disease, high blood pressure and adrenaline, defence lawyers have told the court.

Under cross-examination from Mr Nelson, Darnella agreed bystanders had become increasingly upset by what they were seeing and had become louder - "more so as he was becoming more unresponsive".

When asked if she saw any violence, she said she had - "from the cops, from Chauvin, and from officer Thao".

Analysis by Sally Lockwood, Sky News correspondent

What we're learning for the first time is what was going on behind the camera the day George Floyd died.

The defence is seeking to paint a picture of an unruly mob who were distracting and intimidating Derek Chauvin. Not so says the prosecution. Testimony by testimony, prosecutors are building a picture of who was there and how they felt - an off-duty firefighter begging to administer first aid, teenagers, a child.

Every witness so far has made it clear what they saw felt wrong. Their sense of helplessness and concern as they watched George Floyd suffering. Three of those people called the police on the police.

Many find the video too distressing to watch. We're now hearing what it felt like to see George Floyd's arrest first hand. Imagine being nine years old and seeing that - the youngest witness said it made her feel "mad and sad".

Testimony from a child is challenging in court but can be enormously powerful. Children don't have the same bias or prejudices as adults. Their accounts are often seen as more raw.

The off-duty first responder provided powerful evidence for the prosecution too - calling 911 to say the police were doing nothing "to save a man".

Four witnesses under the age of 18 at the time of George Floyd's death, gave evidence off-camera.

Darnella, the teenager who filmed the viral video of George Floyd described how it's changed her life. "He sounded terrified. He sounded like he knew it was over for him," she said. She told the court she blames herself for not intervening.

"When I look at George Floyd, I look at my dad. I look at my brothers. I look at my cousins, my uncles, because they're all Black," she said.

"It's been nights I stayed up apologising and apologising to George Floyd for not doing more and not physically interacting and not saving his life"

But she acknowledged she feels the ultimate blame lies with Derek Chauvin.

That is what the trial is seeking to determine in the coming weeks. If Derek Chauvin's actions were the cause of George Floyd's death.

But one thing is more clear - had it not been for the teenager filming his arrest and sharing it with the world online, we may not be where we are now: America having a moment of racial reckoning.

People taking to the streets in protest worldwide.

The justice system seeking to determine if this police officer committed murder.

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2021-03-30 22:47:31Z
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George Floyd: Teenage witness 'stays up apologising for not doing more' - BBC News

The teenager whose film of George Floyd's death sparked global protests said she "stays up apologising" to him for "not doing more".

Darnella, who was 17 at the time, was one of four young witnesses who gave gripping descriptions on the second day of Derek Chauvin's trial.

In emotional testimony, she compared Mr Floyd to her dad, brother, cousins and uncles "because they are all black".

The case has brought issues of racial equality and policing to the fore.

On Monday, the opening session of the trial heard Mr Chauvin, an ex-police officer, knelt on Mr Floyd's neck for over nine minutes while arresting him in Minneapolis in May 2020. Prosecutors say this was a "major cause" in his death.

Defence lawyers have indicated they will argue that 46-year-old Mr Floyd died of an overdose. Mr Chauvin, 45, denies charges of murder and manslaughter.

Three other officers who were present - Tou Thao, J Alexander Keung and Thomas Lane - will go on trial later in the year.

What did the trial hear on the second day?

Four children who were all under 18 at the time of the incident gave evidence to the court, but the cameras were switched off so the jurors could not see them and they were identified only by their first names.

Bystanders watching the incident unfold on 25 May 2020
Court TV

Darnella was walking to the Cup Foods shop with her nine-year-old cousin when they came across the arrest on the street outside.

She told the court she started filming on her phone because "I saw a man terrified, begging for his life. It wasn't right - he was in pain."

She described hearing Mr Floyd "saying 'I can't breathe'. He was terrified, he was calling for his mom."

Darnella said witnessing his death had changed her life.

"When I look at George Floyd I look at my dad, I look at my brother, my cousins, my uncles - because they are all black," she said, audibly crying. "And I look at how that could have been one of them."

"I stay up apologising to George Floyd for not doing more."

Her young cousin also gave evidence and said she felt "sad and kind of mad" by what she saw. "It sounded like he was hurting".

Two friends, Alissa, 18, and Kalen, 17, had driven up to the store when they came across the arrest. Both described feeling helpless as they watched Mr Floyd's last moments before "he was just laying there, no longer fighting or resisting".

The last witness of the day was Genevieve Hansen, an off-duty firefighter, who said the officers prevented her from administering medical help that would have saved Mr Floyd's life. She was rebuked by the judge for her testy responses to defence questioning.

What else has the trial heard so far?

One witness, Donald Williams III, who is trained in mixed martial arts, was questioned for over an hour by the prosecution and defence on Monday and again on Tuesday.

He told the court Mr Chauvin had used a dangerous technique called a "blood choke" and was moving his knee back and forth to increase the pressure on Mr Floyd's back and neck.

Courtroom graphic
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He rejected defence suggestions that he and other bystanders' interactions with police had been threatening to the officers there.

In opening statements on Monday, Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell told the jury that Mr Chauvin had "betrayed his badge" by kneeling on Mr Floyd's neck, and using "excessive and unreasonable force" to detain him.

Meanwhile, Mr Chauvin's lawyer Eric Nelson said the case was about the evidence, not about a "political or social cause". He said Mr Floyd had ingested drugs at the time of his arrest "in an effort to conceal them to police", and suggested this contributed to his death.

Mr Chauvin has been silent but remained engaged during the proceedings, taking almost constant notes on a yellow legal pad while listening to the evidence.

A graphic showing the breakdown of jurors in the Derek Chauvin trial
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Why is this such a high-profile case?

Darnella's video footage of Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd's neck was replayed the world over and sparked mass protests and a racial reckoning in the US.

To many, Floyd's death while in police custody became a vivid symbol of police brutality - particularly against people of colour - and it sparked worldwide demonstrations for racial justice.

But despite the global outcry this is not an open and shut case. In the US, police are rarely convicted for deaths that occur while they are on duty, if they are charged at all.

The verdict in this case will be widely seen as an indication of how the US legal system treats deaths that occur while in police custody.

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2021-03-30 22:41:08Z
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Fourteen countries raise concern over WHO report on COVID origin - Al Jazeera English

A group of 14 countries has raised concerns over a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) into the origin of the coronavirus, citing delays and a lack of full access to data, while the agency’s own chief called for further investigation into a theory the outbreak was the result of a laboratory leak.

The widely anticipated study on Tuesday was based on an investigation by the agency’s fact-finding mission to the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the novel virus was first detected.

After a four-week visit, the WHO team composed of 17 international experts concluded in the report it was “extremely unlikely” COVID-19 sprang from a lab leak, a position that was first advanced by the United States last year. China has strongly rejected such allegations.

Instead, the scientists said it was “likely to very likely” that the virus was introduced among humans through an intermediate host, and that it was “possible-to-likely” that the virus was transmitted to humans from animals.

Later on Tuesday, the 14 countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia and Israel said in a statement that they “fully” supported the WHO’s efforts to bring an end to the pandemic, including understanding how it “started and spread”.

But they added it was “essential that we voice our shared concerns that the international expert study on the source of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was significantly delayed and lacked access to complete, original data and samples”.

Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Slovenia and the United Kingdom also co-signed statement.

After a visit lasted four weeks from mid-January, the report concluded that it was ‘extremely unlikely’ the coronavirus outbreak was the result of a laboratory leak [File: Aly Song/Reuters]
Separately on Tuesday, WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also demanded further research to reach “more robust conclusions”.

“I do not believe that this assessment was extensive enough,” he said during a news briefing on Tuesday.

“Although the team has concluded that a laboratory leak is the least likely hypothesis, this requires further investigation, potentially with additional missions involving specialist experts, which I am ready to deploy,” Tedros added.

China’s foreign ministry hit back at the perceived criticism from the WHO chief, saying that Beijing had fully demonstrated “its openness, transparency and responsible attitude”.

“To politicise this issue will only severely hinder global cooperation in study of origins, jeopardize anti-pandemic cooperation, and cost more lives,” the ministry said in a statement.

The European Union called the report a “helpful first step” and highlighted “the need for further work”, urging “relevant authorities” to help, but without naming China.

Peter Ben Embarek, a member of the World Health Organization team tasked with investigating the origins of the coronavirus, attends the WHO-China joint study news conference in Wuhan, China [File: Aly Song/Reuters]
Discussing its findings, Peter Ben Embarek, head of the research team that travelled to China, said the report “is not a statistical product, but a dynamic one”, adding that there will be new analysis.

So far, Embarek said, there was no proof or evidence suggesting that one of the laboratories in Wuhan, a city housing virology facilities, could have been involved in a leak accident.

“It’s not impossible,” he said, pointing to the fact that accidents in laboratories have already happened in the past. “But we have not been able to hear or see or look at anything that would warrant a different conclusion,” he added.

The inability of the WHO mission to conclude yet where or how the virus began spreading in people means that tensions will continue over how the pandemic started – and whether China has helped efforts to find out or, as the US has alleged, hindered them.

Embarek said team members faced political pressure from “all sides”, but insisted: “We were never pressured to remove critical elements in our report.”

He also said, “Where we did not have full access to all the raw data we wanted, that has been put as a recommendation for the future studies.”

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2021-03-30 19:59:49Z
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Fourteen countries raise concern over WHO report on COVID origin - Al Jazeera English

A group of 14 countries has raised concerns over a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) into the origin of the coronavirus, citing delays and a lack of full access to data, while the agency’s own chief called for further investigation into a theory the outbreak was the result of a laboratory leak.

The widely anticipated study on Tuesday was based on an investigation by the agency’s fact-finding mission to the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the novel virus was first detected.

After a four-week visit, the WHO team composed of 17 international experts concluded in the report it was “extremely unlikely” COVID-19 sprang from a lab leak, a position that was first advanced by the United States last year. China has strongly rejected such allegations.

Instead, the scientists said it was “likely to very likely” that the virus was introduced among humans through an intermediate host, and that it was “possible-to-likely” that the virus was transmitted to humans from animals.

Later on Tuesday, the 14 countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia and Israel said in a statement that they “fully” supported the WHO’s efforts to bring an end to the pandemic, including understanding how it “started and spread”.

But they added it was “essential that we voice our shared concerns that the international expert study on the source of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was significantly delayed and lacked access to complete, original data and samples”.

Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Slovenia and the United Kingdom also co-signed statement.

After a visit lasted four weeks from mid-January, the report concluded that it was ‘extremely unlikely’ the coronavirus outbreak was the result of a laboratory leak [File: Aly Song/Reuters]
Separately on Tuesday, WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also demanded further research to reach “more robust conclusions”.

“I do not believe that this assessment was extensive enough,” he said during a news briefing on Tuesday.

“Although the team has concluded that a laboratory leak is the least likely hypothesis, this requires further investigation, potentially with additional missions involving specialist experts, which I am ready to deploy,” Tedros added.

China’s foreign ministry hit back at the perceived criticism from the WHO chief, saying that Beijing had fully demonstrated “its openness, transparency and responsible attitude”.

“To politicise this issue will only severely hinder global cooperation in study of origins, jeopardize anti-pandemic cooperation, and cost more lives,” the ministry said in a statement.

The European Union called the report a “helpful first step” and highlighted “the need for further work”, urging “relevant authorities” to help, but without naming China.

Peter Ben Embarek, a member of the World Health Organization team tasked with investigating the origins of the coronavirus, attends the WHO-China joint study news conference in Wuhan, China [File: Aly Song/Reuters]
Discussing its findings, Peter Ben Embarek, head of the research team that travelled to China, said the report “is not a statistical product, but a dynamic one”, adding that there will be new analysis.

So far, Embarek said, there was no proof or evidence suggesting that one of the laboratories in Wuhan, a city housing virology facilities, could have been involved in a leak accident.

“It’s not impossible,” he said, pointing to the fact that accidents in laboratories have already happened in the past. “But we have not been able to hear or see or look at anything that would warrant a different conclusion,” he added.

The inability of the WHO mission to conclude yet where or how the virus began spreading in people means that tensions will continue over how the pandemic started – and whether China has helped efforts to find out or, as the US has alleged, hindered them.

Embarek said team members faced political pressure from “all sides”, but insisted: “We were never pressured to remove critical elements in our report.”

He also said, “Where we did not have full access to all the raw data we wanted, that has been put as a recommendation for the future studies.”

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2021-03-30 19:56:44Z
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COVID-19: 'All hypotheses remain on the table' in search for source of virus, says WHO - Sky News

The head of the World Health Organisation says "all hypotheses remain on the table" in the search for the origin of COVID-19.

Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said a WHO team looking for the source of the virus had encountered problems accessing raw data, and called for further studies because the assessment so far has not been extensive enough.

"We have not yet found the source of the virus, and we must continue to follow the science and leave no stone unturned as we do," he added.

COVID live news - lockdown rules warning for warm weather over next two days

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'Unlikely' COVID-19 came from Wuhan lab

Following the publication of an initial report from the WHO team, the UK joined other countries in expressing their "shared concerns" about delays and other problems encountered during the experts' study in China.

Beijing has previously been accused of a cover-up in its initial response to the COVID outbreak.

Meanwhile, delays to the arrival of the WHO team into China earlier this year were blamed by the country's officials on a "misunderstanding".

More from Covid-19

And one member of the WHO team in February accused China of refusing to hand over key data.

Earlier, Sky News revealed that experts believe the most likely origin of COVID-19 is transmission from a bat to humans via an unidentified intermediate animal species.

Scientists have concluded that a leak from a laboratory is the least likely hypothesis, after visiting several facilities.

Dr Tedros said the "role of animal markets is still unclear".

But he added that the WHO team had confirmed there was "widespread contamination with SARS-CoV-2 in the Huanan market in Wuhan".

The source of that contamination could not be determined, however.

He said further research may include a "full analysis of the trade in animals and products in markets across Wuhan, particularly those linked to early human cases".

Farmers, suppliers and their contacts need to be interviewed, he added, echoing a request from his team, which also addressed the possibility that the virus was introduced to humans through the food chain.

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'I think we're really getting somewhere,' says WHO expert in China

A team of scientists from the UK, Australia, China, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Kenya, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, the US and Vietnam travelled to China in January, working with experts there for four weeks.

The results published on Tuesday are described as "initial studies".

Looking at available data, the report suggests there was unrecognised transmission in December 2019, and possibly earlier.

It adds that the first detected case began to show symptoms on 8 December 2019.

But to go further, the team needs "full access to data including biological samples from at least September 2019", Dr Tedros said.

He said the report was a "very important beginning" but not the end.

"Finding the origin of a virus takes time and we owe it to the world to find the source so we can collectively take steps to reduce the risk of this happening again," he added.

"No single research trip can provide all the answers.

"It is clear that we need more research across a range of areas, which will entail further field visits."

In a joint statement, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, South Korea, Slovenia, the UK, and the US said they remained "steadfast" in their commitment to working with the WHO to uncover the origins of COVID-19.

They called on all WHO members to renew their commitment to "access, transparency, and timeliness" when investigating the origins of viruses.

The joint statement said: "The mission of the WHO is critical to advancing global health and health security, and we fully support its experts and staff and recognize their tireless work to bring an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, including understanding how the pandemic started and spread.

"With such an important mandate, it is equally essential that we voice our shared concerns that the international expert study on the source of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was significantly delayed and lacked access to complete, original data and samples.

"Scientific missions like these should be able to do their work under conditions that produce independent and objective recommendations and findings.

"We share these concerns not only for the benefit of learning all we can about the origins of this pandemic, but also to lay a pathway to a timely, transparent, evidence-based process for the next phase of this study as well as for the next health crises."

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2021-03-30 17:11:19Z
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COVID-19: 'All hypotheses remain on the table' in search for source of virus, says WHO - Sky News

The head of the World Health Organisation says "all hypotheses remain on the table" in the search for the origin of COVID-19.

Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said a WHO team looking for the source of the virus had encountered problems accessing raw data, and called for further studies because the assessment so far has not been extensive enough.

"We have not yet found the source of the virus, and we must continue to follow the science and leave no stone unturned as we do," he added.

COVID live news - lockdown rules warning for warm weather over next two days

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

'Unlikely' COVID-19 came from Wuhan lab

Following the publication of an initial report from the WHO team, the UK joined other countries in expressing their "shared concerns" about delays and other problems encountered during the experts' study in China.

Beijing has previously been accused of a cover-up in its initial response to the COVID outbreak.

Meanwhile, delays to the arrival of the WHO team into China earlier this year were blamed by the country's officials on a "misunderstanding".

More from Covid-19

And one member of the WHO team in February accused China of refusing to hand over key data.

Earlier, Sky News revealed that experts believe the most likely origin of COVID-19 is transmission from a bat to humans via an unidentified intermediate animal species.

Scientists have concluded that a leak from a laboratory is the least likely hypothesis, after visiting several facilities.

Dr Tedros said the "role of animal markets is still unclear".

But he added that the WHO team had confirmed there was "widespread contamination with SARS-CoV-2 in the Huanan market in Wuhan".

The source of that contamination could not be determined, however.

He said further research may include a "full analysis of the trade in animals and products in markets across Wuhan, particularly those linked to early human cases".

Farmers, suppliers and their contacts need to be interviewed, he added, echoing a request from his team, which also addressed the possibility that the virus was introduced to humans through the food chain.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

'I think we're really getting somewhere,' says WHO expert in China

A team of scientists from the UK, Australia, China, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Kenya, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, the US and Vietnam travelled to China in January, working with experts there for four weeks.

The results published on Tuesday are described as "initial studies".

Looking at available data, the report suggests there was unrecognised transmission in December 2019, and possibly earlier.

It adds that the first detected case began to show symptoms on 8 December 2019.

But to go further, the team needs "full access to data including biological samples from at least September 2019", Dr Tedros said.

He said the report was a "very important beginning" but not the end.

"Finding the origin of a virus takes time and we owe it to the world to find the source so we can collectively take steps to reduce the risk of this happening again," he added.

"No single research trip can provide all the answers.

"It is clear that we need more research across a range of areas, which will entail further field visits."

In a joint statement, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, South Korea, Slovenia, the UK, and the US said they remained "steadfast" in their commitment to working with the WHO to uncover the origins of COVID-19.

They called on all WHO members to renew their commitment to "access, transparency, and timeliness" when investigating the origins of viruses.

The joint statement said: "The mission of the WHO is critical to advancing global health and health security, and we fully support its experts and staff and recognize their tireless work to bring an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, including understanding how the pandemic started and spread.

"With such an important mandate, it is equally essential that we voice our shared concerns that the international expert study on the source of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was significantly delayed and lacked access to complete, original data and samples.

"Scientific missions like these should be able to do their work under conditions that produce independent and objective recommendations and findings.

"We share these concerns not only for the benefit of learning all we can about the origins of this pandemic, but also to lay a pathway to a timely, transparent, evidence-based process for the next phase of this study as well as for the next health crises."

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2021-03-30 17:03:45Z
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Suez Canal disruption: Where are the ships that decided to try another route? - Sky News

The week-long standstill on the Suez Canal meant a tough decision for shipping officials: take a much longer route, or sit it out.

Almost 400 ships were stuck at either end of the Suez Canal while the operation to free the Ever Given took place.

Real-time shipping data provided by MarineTraffic shows how routes have been affected by the disruption on one of the world’s most important waterways.

A 23,000ft container ship named HMM Rotterdam left the London Gateway port in the Thames Estuary just after 6pm on 22 March.

This shows the HMM Rotterdam travelling through the English Channel at 10.13am on March 23rd. Credit: MarineTraffic
Image: This shows the HMM Rotterdam travelling through the English Channel at 10.13am on 12 March. Pic: MarineTraffic

Bound for Singapore, it travelled south along the Portuguese coast before turning towards the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal.

This shows the HMM Rotterdam at around 10pm on the evening of March 24th. Credit: MarineTraffic
Image: This shows the HMM Rotterdam's position at around 10pm on 24 March. Pic: MarineTraffic

But early on Friday evening, the ship turned in the Strait of Gibraltar and headed south along the Moroccan coast, towards the Cape of Good Hope.

This image shows the HMM Rotterdam's position at 8am on Friday March 26th. Credit: MarineTraffic
Image: This image shows the HMM Rotterdam's position at 8am on Friday 26 March. Pic: MarineTraffic
This is the ship's position at around 13:00pm on Tuesday 30th March. Credit: MarineTraffic
Image: This is the ship's position at around 13:00pm on 30 March. Pic: MarineTraffic

AIS data gathered by MarineTraffic showed the ship’s estimated time of arrival changed from 30 March to 12 April. It’s most recent update puts its arrival time at 19 April - nearly three weeks later than originally intended.

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The world’s biggest shipping company Maersk said on Monday that it had rerouted 15 vessels around the Cape of Good Hope.

One ship, the Bremen, set off across the North Atlantic Ocean, destined for Singapore.

On Friday morning, it appeared to change course away from the Strait of Gibraltar and headed south to the west coast of Africa.

This image shows the ship's position at 11pm on Friday March 26th. Credit: MarineTraffic
Image: This image shows the ship's position at 11pm on Friday 26 March. Pic: MarineTraffic

It has continued south towards Cape of Good Hope in the days since.

This image shows the position of the Bremen at around 11am on Tuesday 30th March. Credit: MarineTraffic
Image: This image shows the position of the Bremen at around 11am on Tuesday 30 March. Pic: MarineTraffic

Its estimated arrival time is 19 April - nearly a month after it set off.

Mediterranean Shipping Company announced on Friday that one of its ships operating their Australian Express service had been rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope.

This is the route that ships cargo from Australia to Europe, stopping at ports in southeast Asia and the Middle East along the way.

This map from MSC’s website shows the usual routes taken by ships operating the service via the Suez Canal.

This map from MSC's website shows the routes taken by ships on the Australian Express service. Credit: MSC
Image: This map from MSC's website shows the routes taken by ships on the Australian Express service. Pic: MSC

The MSC Sindy left a port in Malta on 25 March, two days after the Ever Given ran aground and blocked the Suez Canal.

MarineTraffic data shows it headed out of the Mediterranean via the Strait of Gibraltar on the evening of March 27th.

This image shows the position of the MSC Sindy at 11pm on March 27th. Credit: MarineTraffic
Image: This image shows the position of the MSC Sindy at 11pm on 27 March. Pic: MarineTraffic

Destination information is not available for the ship, but the vessel continues to travel south along the west coast of Africa, towards the Cape of Good Hope.

This image shows the position of the MSC Sindy just after 2pm on Tuesday March 30th. Credit: MarineTraffic
Image: This image shows the position of the MSC Sindy just after 2pm on Tuesday 30 March. Pic: MarineTraffic

"Essentially, companies took a gamble on when the situation in the Suez Canal would be resolved - not just when the Ever Given would no longer block it, but also when the considerable maritime traffic jam has been cleared," said Dr Sarah Schiffling, Senior Lecturer in Supply Chain Management at Liverpool John Moores University.

But with hundreds of vessels still waiting to pass, delays are expected to continue and experts fear the consequences of the six-day standstill will be felt for weeks yet.

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2021-03-30 16:18:44Z
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