I was a US Civilian Mariner (aka merchant marine) for 16 years or so and a licensed officer for the last 4 years. I recently changed professions due to a welcome addition to my family that I can't bear to leave for months at a time! I'm not here to tell you the Ever Given situation isn't meaningful, I think it is. What I can do is tell you what it's like to live and work in the industry, share my training and experience with large ocean going vessels. Basically I'd like to help dispel nonsense so we can all get to the truth and look good doing it!
I just got off work and I'm starting my weekend, so I'll be back to answer any questions after a good sleep.
what's this about losing containers and having them go over board and "float" around. If they had stuff in them wouldn't they sink???? and how often does this happen? how much stuff is floating around out there?
If the stuff in them holds a lot of air, it could stay afloat. Also, I think that some containers are sealed and airtight. Containers fall off ships every day. There are hundreds of them in the sea right now.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=containers+overboard
It never happened to me, but we were US sailors and good at our jobs!
Containers aren't really water tight, I'd expect them to eventually sink.