It was eerily quiet at Felixstowe docks over the Easter weekend as the delays caused by the Ever Green's blockage in the Suez Canal had a knock on effect.

As our pictures show, all the giant cranes at the Port Of Felixstowe lay idle for hours as the docks were virtually empty, and are likely to remain quiet for weeks to come.

At one stage on Easter Monday morning only the regular Rotterdam and back DFDS ship Tulipa was alongside, until the MSC Tamara came in from Tin Can Island, Lagos Nigeria. Another smaller container ship the Leo C arrived from French port Le Havre last night.

One former docker told Nub News it was the quietest he had known it since 1998, when a huge financial crash in the Far East hit markets. Dockers then were either laid off, or given extra holidays while some new employees were paid off.

The Panama-flagged Ever Given was en route to Felixstowe via Rotterdam before she ran aground in the narrow Suez Canal last Tuesday after being buffeted by wind, blocking the path of 12 per cent of global trade, as around 450 ships were backed up in both directions.

Some vessels have chosen to take the long route via Africa's Cape of Good Horn, which will add around a fortnight to their journeys.

The knock on effect has meant the Port of Felixstowe is likely to face severe disruption for the next two - three weeks as 45% of its scheduled services are affected, whereas at rivals London Gateway it is an estimated 25% and Southampton 35%.

But Robert Ashton, operations director at Port of Felixstowe believes the famine will be quickly followed by feast and has asked dock workers to support them during the lean times and demonstrate to customers why they should still regard Felixstowe as their number one home port.

Although Japanese owned, the Ever Given is operated by of the Taiwainese owned transport company Evergreen Marine, and is carrying food goods like coconut milk and syrups, spare parts for motors, fork lift trucks, and Amazon goods as part of its cargo.

As long as the Shard is high, the Ever Given is 400m-long (1,312ft) and weighs 200,000 tonnes, with a maximum capacity of 20,000 containers. It is currently carrying 18,300 containers.

The Suez Canal was dug more than 150 years ago and is one of the world's most important trade routes, providing much of Egypt's wealth.

Originally the dream project of Napoleon Bonaparte, the French emperor's vision became reality only in 1859 – nearly 40 years after his death – through the combined efforts of French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps and Said Pasha, son of Egyptian viceroy Mohammed Ali Pasha.

Today, nearly 19,000 ships, or an average of 51.5 ships a day, pass through the canal with a net tonnage of 1.17 billion in 2020 alone, according to the Suez Canal Authority. Before the coronavirus pandemic, tariffs brought in $5.8 billion for the Egyptian government in 2019.

Without the canal, shipping journeys between Asia and Europe would take weeks longer, with vessels being forced to sail around the Cape of Good Hope at the southernmost point of Africa, which adds 5,600 kilometres to any journey.

In some cases, shipping operators seeking to avoid canal tariffs take this option, but a big factor in this decision is fuel prices, elevated during the global pandemic.

Originally eight metres deep, the canal was expanded significantly in 2015 to allow for two vessels to pass side-by-side in opposite directions and it was dredged to a depth of 24 metres.