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Google Sneaks In Suez Canal Easter Egg After Ship Finally Gets Unblocked
By Mikelle Leow, 31 Mar 2021
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Image via Shutterstock
Apart from unleashing daily Doodles, Google has been known to plant goodies into Search now and then. And now, to commemorate the freedom of the Ever Given cargo ship from the Suez Canal, it’s snuck in a little visual treat that could make you chuckle.
The world waited with bated breath as the 1,312-foot-long ship wedged sideways in a single-lane area of the canal on March 23 and remained stuck for almost a week. It was carrying 18,300 containers and obstructing the course of 369 ships, creating a traffic jam that was visible from space and sparking a whole shipload of memes. The BBC estimated that around 12 percent of global trade had been affected by the obstruction.
On March 29, six days later, the Ever Given ship was freed—a feat that would require relentless digging from a dredger, the effort of 14 tugboats, and, by a stroke of luck, favorable moon and tide conditions. This called for a celebration by the folks at Google.
The company honored the unblocking by having a consistent stream of ships move steadily across its Search results pages. To view them, simply look up “Suez Canal” or “Ever Given” on the search engine.
The fun Easter egg can be unlocked on the desktop and mobile versions of Google.com.
If you search for [suez canal] or [ever given] on Google on desktop, well, the canal is all clear :) pic.twitter.com/kMZojOPvmN
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) March 30, 2021
[via Mashable and BBC, cover image via Shutterstock]
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