Suez Canal Ship Memes: The Internet Loved This Big, Stuck Boat

After being stuck for almost a week, the Ever Given container ship was freed early Monday morning — but not before inspiring hundreds of memes. It all started on March 23, when the 220,000-ton container ship lodged itself in Egypt’s Suez Canal, one of the busiest waterways in the world, according to CNN. For perspective, the ship is almost as long as the Empire State Building is tall.

The vessel, which was knocked off course by high winds and a dust storm, ended up lodged diagonally, blocking all traffic on the narrow canal. CNN reported a major backlog of trade ships that couldn’t get through, carrying items like oil and livestock. CNBC reported that Ever Given was holding up $400 million an hour in trade.

Now the ship has been freed and is on the move, clearing the way for traffic to resume — something reports originally said could take weeks.

As we bid farewell to the Ever Given, here are some of the memes inspired by this fiasco, which has become a handy metaphor for trying your best in the face of overwhelming odds.

It’s also become a metaphor for more profound systemic concerns.

The Ever Given has become easy fodder for pop culture memes, as well.

The memes have become so popular that upon hearing that the ship had become partially dislodged earlier Monday morning, internet observers overwhelmingly asked for the vessel to be put back, according to the New York Times.

As noted by The Times, the ship represents another one of those cultural moments everyone on the internet can get behind, like the Bernie Sanders at Inauguration meme or the crowd-sourced, boat-naming contest that brought us Boaty McBoatface. And, like any cultural movement, it even has its own satirical website. Monday morning, the answer on IsTheShipStillStuck.com went from, “Yes” to “Sort of?” By around 9:30 a.m. ET, the answer finally read, “No!”

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