For the past 24 hours, the world has been enraptured by the failed attempt of the Ever Given to pass through the Suez Canal. As a 400-metre-long container vessel, it’s the job of the Ever Given to transport bulk goods via the canal. This includes niche stuff like Kickstarter board games printed in China for delivery all over Europe and the rest of the world.
While we currently have no confirmation about what exactly the 20,000 containers on board the Ever Given house. But a recent email sent by a Kickstarter creator indicates it’s highly possible upcoming Kickstarter products set for delivery in the UK could be inside.
So if you’ve backed something recently and you’re waiting to hear about final delivery, you could be waiting a good long while.
According to Judson Cowan, creator of the excellent monster-mash board game Hideous Abomination, the Ever Given was the container vessel used to transport copies of the game just three months ago.
“The vessel currently blocking the Suez Canal and causing major shipping delays, costing millions of dollars for people around the world is the EVER GIVEN, the exact same ship that successfully carried Hideous Abomination to the UK three months ago,” Cowan said in a recent email update.
Given most board game production comes directly from China, it’s likely other projects have also made use of the Ever Given to transport new games. With air freight capacity reduced drastically thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, sea freight has become an essential means of transporting consumer goods. Sadly, this has meant major delivery delays for board games on top of production delays caused by reduced factory capacity.
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Around 51.5 ships travel through the Suez Canal on a daily basis, bringing goods into and out of Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Currently no ships are passing through, causing a major bottleneck for deliveries in those regions.
The Ever Given has been stuck since early on March 24 (Australian time) and shows no signs of being moved along as of writing. So far, efforts to move the ship have been unsuccessful.
So if you’re holding out for the latest board game releases, you may need to wait a little bit longer. The Ever Given is one of the world’s largest cargo ships, and it’s likely to contain thousands of specialty goods set for delivery over the next few weeks and months.
Rest assured your board games are on the way — they might just take a little bit longer than usual. Stay tuned to your emails for updates on any Kickstarter delays.