The grounding of the giant containership Ever Given has proved that double-tracking the full length of the Suez Canal is an absolute necessity.

The waterway’s closure has shown just how much global trade depends on one 200-metre-wide ditch linking the Mediterranean with the Red Sea.

All it took was one big ship to wedge itself across the width of the canal for more than a week to throw the finely tuned maritime logistics system between Asia and Europe into disarray.