During the original Suez blockage news cycle, some maritime experts pointed out just how absurdly stressful it is to navigate a canal:
> [Captain Bill Kavanagh] said: “The procedure is very stressful for the ship. Those ships are on the high seas and have a very good routine. Then they arrive in Port Said or even Suez… and suddenly all hell breaks loose.
> “There’s a lot going on, a lot of people coming on board, the Suez Canal crew come on board, and at least one pilot comes on board. Those ships are actually piloted by an expert who knows the canal very well… nevertheless, this is a stranger and a new person is part of the bridge team.
> He explained that a convoy could consist of around 10 ships, while a large lake in the middle of the canal - the Great Bitter Lake - allows traffic to flow smoothly in both directions despite the canal itself only being a single lane.
> [...]
> However, he said physics effects such as the Bernoulli effect can result in very sudden changes in a ship’s course, while strong winds may have been another factor.
CNN published a simulator where you get to try to go through the Suez Canal yourself: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/03/cnnix-steership/ This simulator is, of course, ignoring things like communication difficulties caused by language barrier (they speak Arabic), some of the more nitty gritty physics of the task, tides, safety concerns, etc.
There is also a canal navigation simulator in meatspace, if you're up to the task - https://interestingengineering.com/transportation/a-mini-sue...
This has got to be top ten of most wrongest comments on hacker news.
If we consider modern large jet airliners and cargo planes to be equivalent to large ships, most of those planes have advanced automation.
:)
Airplane automation has more in common with drawing a line on a map than with piloting a big ship in a small canal.
Think about it, 2D plane, tough medium that has low visibility, can hide many things. Tides, currents.. EVERYTHING has a potential to be a difficult maneuver / emergency situation.
Just because it was an earlier mode of travel doesn't mean it's simple.