The Suez Canal fiasco is one of the most-talked-about topics at the moment as a cargo ship called Ever Given clogs a vital trade artery in Egypt. Most of us have only seen pictures of the traffic-blocking ship, but thanks to a Microsoft Flight Simulator mod, you can now see an ultra-realistic, bird's eye view of the infamous vessel.
TikTok user "donut_enforcement" posted a clip of his simulated flight over the Suez Canal, showing off the game's visually stunning 3D graphics as he hovers over the world-famous logjam — and it's pretty badass.
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The Suez Canal fiasco captured on Microsoft Flight Simulator
"This is your captain speaking! If you look to your left, you'll see the Suez Canal," the clip's commentator said.
Cargo ship stuck in Microsoft Flight Simulator pic.twitter.com/SczumWI5mDMarch 28, 2021
"This is where most of our world trade and cargo ships go through," the pilot-esque voice continued. "And it appears that we have a stuck cargo ship."
The trade-impeding vessel comes to life in the Microsoft Flight Simulator world, immersing viewers with 3D graphical goodness of the Ever Given ship. If you look closely, you can even spot the excavator.
"Ladies and gentleman, go ahead and put your seatbelts on. We are going to do a fly around where that cargo ship is at," the pilot said. You can see the diagonal-angled ship being wedged between two terrains on the Suez Canal. "Geez!" the commentator continued. "It appears they have a big problem."
The Ever Given disappears from sight as the pilot flies toward the Egyptian city of Ismailia, and unfortunately, the TikTok video ends prematurely due to the platform's time limitations. Thankfully, the TikTok user uploaded a longer video of his Suez Canal flight on his YouTube channel.
You won't be able to find the Suez Canal on Microsoft Flight Simulator as of this writing. The Redmond-based tech giant's flight-game game pulls information from Bing Maps and Azure AI, and the photogrammetric data doesn't refresh in a timely manner. As such, you'll need to mod Microsoft Flight Simulator to include the Suez Canal that features the trade-halting, trouble-causing Ever Given. Flightsim.to is currently hosting the Ever Given mod for flight-sim enthusiasts who are yearning to get a bird's eye view of the maritime madness.
The Ever Given has been stuck for nearly one week, blocking traffic that carries $10 billion worth of goods each day. According to the Associated Press, the Suez Canal logjam particularly affects trading connections between Asia and Europe. Europe depends on India for cotton, the Middle East for petroleum and China for auto parts. If Ever Given isn't dislodged from the Suez Canal sooner than later, the economic fallout could be astronomical.
Fortunately, salvage crews are making headway with the Suez Canal debacle; the Ever Given is now partially freed from the sandy clay, according to CNN.
Still, the world is captivated by the trade-halting vessel — so much so that modders are including the Ever Given-featured Suez Canal on Microsoft Flight Simulator for a bird's eye view of the train wreck. Admittedly, it's far more captivating than all the bland, 2D photos disseminated by the media.
(h/t The Verge)
