crane and two tug boats heavier than these, hoping to free the ship before its precarious position gets worse. >> you have to start worrying about the vessel rolling, cracking. the nightmare scenario of all time is the vessel breaks apart. and that would be not weeks or days of salvage, but months. >> reporter: meanwhile, traffic remains at a standstill in a waterway that normally handles the equivalent of $10 billion a day in cargo. more than 320 ships are backed up in either direction. their only alternative is to divert around the southern tip of africa. and i adding about a week to the journey. >> extra fuel. extra seven days steaming. we're about to see it in the po pocketbook here real soon. >> reporter: it will also be costly for vessels waiting in place. about a dozen are carrying livestock at risk of dying if