Nick Sloane, the South African Salvage Master who has led the operation for the U.S.-Italian contractors consortium Titan-Micoperi. REUTERS/Tony Gentile
Billions of dollars worth of global trade is hanging in the balance as salvage efforts continue to refloat the MV Ever Given in the Suez Canal.
The impact of the event now rests entirely on how long it takes to refloat the ship to restore maritime commerce through the critical chokepoint that offers the shortest route between Asia and Europe.
So what will it take to refloat the 400-meter-long containership?
Well that’s currently the million billion-dollar question. But to get an idea, we reached out to veteran salvage master Captain Nick Sloane for his take on the situation.
If the name rings a bell, it’s because Nick was the person in charge of refloating the Costa Concordia cruise ship in Giglio, Italy, the largest maritime salvage jobs in history.
Nick Sloane is now Director at Resolve Marine Group, one of the world’s leading maritime salvage companies (the appointed salvage company for the Ever Given is SMIT Salvage, a Boskalis company). He agreed and sat down for a Zoom interview with gCaptain’s founder and CEO, John Konrad, and Dr. Sal Mercogliano, a professor of history at North Carolina’s Campbell University and naval historian.
Have a watch below:
For a more in-depth profile on Nick, Vanity Fair did a great piece on him in 2014, at the height of his Costa Concordia fame, which is well-worth the read.
Full Coverage: Ever Given Ground in Suez
*Interview was recorded at approximately 9 a.m. EDT, Saturday, March 27, 2021. Originally published March 27, 2021.
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