IKEA Says Ever Given's Suez Canal Delay Should Only Have 'Minor Impact on Availability' The home-furnishings giant had 110 containers of products stuck on the recently freed cargo vessel and ships in its shadow.
By Kenny Herzog
Remember that enormous cargo ship that was stuck in the Suez Canal for nearly a week until it was finally dislodged yesterday morning? Of course you do. It was yesterday morning. Lightheartedness aside, the Ever Given's bottleneck caused a near-crisis for for major retailers and name-brand manufacturers worldwide — not only on account of the precious goods within its containers, but also because of the chain reaction of delays among smaller cargo ships seeking passage.
In our curiosity about how close those tense several days came to crippling supply chains and leaking corporate profits, we reached out to representatives for IKEA, who reportedly had 110 containers of goods left in limbo thanks to the maritime fiasco. In response, an IKEA Sweden spokesperson sent us the following statement:
"We can confirm that there [are] approximately 110 containers with IKEA products onboard the stranded vessel destined for different IKEA markets on the blocked vessel and on vessels that are waiting to make passage via the Suez Canal. The blocked canal is impacting our total flow of goods out from Asia Pacific. There is a variety of products within our product range in the specific containers. Our estimate is that the Suez Canal blockage will only have minor impact on availability.
[After] yesterday's morning's positive news from the Suez Canal Authority that the vessel is now refloating, we estimate that the accident in the Suez Canal will have a minimum impact on the availability of our products. We are closely monitoring the development together with the shipping lines and hope for a continued successful rescue mission.
Related: Large Container Ship Finally Freed From Suez Canal
In other words, don't fret: The pieces for your self-assembly home-entertainment kit should be arriving just in time for the warm weather to entice you back outside for the next six months.
