I heard an expert on the radio a few days ago saying that captains of ships in the queue would need to make a decision - stay and see what happens and potentially be stuck for months, or go the long way round and risk being seriously late, but at least moving.
Now, with hindsight, it looks like those who decided to hang on have won that debate.
//Now, with hindsight, it looks like those who decided to hang on have won that debate.//
Not too sure, Andy. Those who cut and ran early on (if there were any of them) would have definitely made the right decision. Sailing round the Cape of Good Hope takes an additional 5-6 days and the canal was blocked for over a week. As well as that, there are something like 400 ships waiting to transit the canal and it can only handle 50-60 a day.