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‘The Boats Have Organized And Are Striking’: Boat Lands On Florida Highway, Blocking Traffic

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(Photo by Hugh Hastings/Getty Images)

Andrew Jose Contributor
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Authorities in Florida removed a boat blocking interstate traffic Thursday night as the incident became the butt of several social media jokes comparing it with the maritime traffic jam at the Suez Canal.

The “considerably large boat” had lain on the road for nearly three hours on Interstate 10 in Okaloosa County, Florida, blocking traffic, Lt. Jason King of the Florida Highway Patrol said, according to The New York Times.

Around 7 p.m. on Thursday, a pickup truck hauling the 38-foot-vessel was heading west in the highway’s right lane when the boat trailer began “swaying violently from side to side” as the automobile was crossing an overpass, a report from the Highway Patrol stated, the NY Times reported. 

The boat trailer’s right side then reportedly smacked against a guardrail, causing the boat to snap loose from the trailer prior to flipping about multiple times before coming to a standstill on the road.

The fallen vessel blocked both westbound lanes of the highway near Crestview, Florida, according to the Crestview Fire Department’s Facebook page.

The incident caused no injuries, the Crestview Fire Department stated.

“The boat was removed with a huge rotator wrecker,” King said, after which authorities re-opened the blocked lanes.

The incident became the subject of jokes shared on social media, comparing it with the blockage of the Suez Canal halfway across the world. (RELATED: Massive Cargo Ship Gets Stuck In Suez Canal, Interrupting International Trade)

“48 hours and there’s already a Suez Canal cosplay,” one user wrote on Twitter.

Several users alluded to 2021 being the year boats ‘fought back.’

Around 200 ships remain stuck in a maritime traffic jam in the Suez Canal, which threatens to harm the international economy, after authorities failed to remove a large cargo ship wedged between the Canal’s two banks.