2021 Suez Canal Obstruction

[Jim Eshelman]

March 23, 2021, 7:40 AM EET, Suez Canal, Egypt 30N01'03", 32E34'48"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Suez ... bstruction

The Ever Given, a container ship as long as the Empire State Building is tall, ran aground in the narrow Suez Canal due to a heavy, windy sandstorm, blocking traffic in both directions. (On any given day, 30% of the world's cargo ships move through that canal.) We might expect all sorts of trouble from the mundane charts, including the sandstorm itself, the ship grounding, and especially transportation and commerce blocking. A salvage company said it will take weeks, and possibly months, to dislodge the ship.

What do the charts look like for the biggest traffic jam in history?

The event chart shows the chaotic mess as clearly as can be - one of the best mundane examples of Eris to date: Eris 0°54' before Asc, Uranus 1°47' before Asc, Pluto 4°12' before MC (and Moon 4° from IC). It was the day of Mercury square Mars, which we might expect to see on angles for daily timing. (Probably the single biggest surprise - and disappointment - is the utter lack of Mercury after the initial on-point setup by the Capsolar.)

Year/Quarter: Capsolar {+2}
(We begin with the single most common aspect for transportation disasters, Me-Ur, partile, wrapped up with Mars.)
Moon 0°56' from IC
Mercury, Mars, & Uranus widely angular
-- Mercury-Uranus sq. 0°16' mundo
-- Mars-Uranus sq. 2°44' mundo
-- Mercury-Mars sq. 3°00' mundo
-- Mars sq. non-foreground Saturn 0°34' eclipto & Jupiter 1°39' mundo

Bridge {+2}
t Eris conj. Cansolar MC 10/5 to 4/15
t Mars conj. Cansolar Moon 3/22-25
Event window: March 22-25

Month: Caplunar {+2}
(Are sandstorms like tornadoes? If so, Sun-Neptune foreground is perfect! Otherwise, it's at least worth +1.5, which probably tips to +2.)
Sun on N 1°12'
Neptune barely foreground
-- Sun-Neptune conj. 1°58'
-- Sun sq. non-foreground Mars 2°48' mundo
Moon-Pluto conj. 0°13' mundo
Moon-Eris sq. 1°18'

Week: Arilunar {+2}
(Bingo! It would be +3 if it had any Mercury in it.)
Pluto on Asc 0°55'
Saturn on EP-a 1°21'
Moon on N 1°27'
Uranus & Eris very widely angular
-- Moon-Eris sq. 1°14'
-- Moon-Pluto sq. 1°20'
-- Saturn-Uranus 1°46'
-- Pluto-Eris sq. 2°34'

Day: Capsolar Quotidian {+2}
(Were you wondering what that Sun-Pluto Capsolar conj. would do when it came angular?)
p EP-a conj. s Pluto 0°01', s Sun 0°09', t Pluto 1°59'

Day: Cansolar Transits {+2}
(Here's where Me-Ma came in... affecting the whole world, not just that spot.
t Eris conj. s MC 1°45'
t Mars conj. s Moon 0°15'

Day: Arisolar Quotidian {+3}
p Moon-Saturn conj. 0°22' (affecting entire world)
p EP-a op. s Mars 0°47', t Saturn 1°00'
-- t Saturn conj. p Mars 0°14', s Mars 0°22', Ma/Ma 0°04'

Day: Libsolar Quotidian & Transits {0 to +1}
p MC op. s Mars 0°18' (p Mars 0°09'), sq. s Jupiter 0°13'
-- p Mars-Jupiter sq. 0°21', s Mars-Jupiter 0°31'
p Asc sq. t Sun 0°26', t Venus 1°13'
-- t Sun-Venus conj. 0°47'
---------------------------------------------
t Saturn op. s EP-a 0°20'
-- t Saturn sq. s Mercury 0°00', s Moon 0°43'
t Jupiter op. s Asc 0°30'

[Jim Eshelman]

(Are sandstorms like tornadoes? If so, Sun-Neptune foreground is perfect! Otherwise, it's at least worth +1.5, which probably tips to +2.)

Tornados have rotation. Sand and dust storms are generally the straight line gust front of a strong, dry, cold front combined with loose soil or sand. Sand and soil often ends up embedded in the skin of people and animals.

[Jim Eshelman]

The Ever Given was floated free today, March 29, 2021 at about 3PM, local time. The rear of the ship was freed just before dawn this morning using the full moon and higher tides to get it unstuck. It's still not back in the channel of deep water, but getting there and traffic through the canal is expected to resume by tonight.

If you didn't get an extra pack of toilet paper, you don't need to, although you should always have one in reserve. Gas prices dropped back dramatically this morning.