Giant ship stuck in Suez canal afloat, traffic resumes: official
Maritime traffic through Egypt’s Suez Canal resumed on Monday after a giant container ship that had been blocking the waterway for nearly a week was re-floated, the canal authority said.
The 400-meter (430-yard) long Ever Given jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds last Tuesday, stopping traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.
Live footage from a local television station showed the ship surrounded by tugs moving slowly in the center of the channel. The station, ExtraNews, said the ship was moving at a speed of 1.5 knots.
Ship Ever Given, one of the largest container ships in the world, is seen after fully floating in the Suez Canal, Egypt
“Admiral Osama Rabie, president of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), announces the resumption of maritime traffic in the Suez Canal after the Authority rescues and successfully floats the giant Panamanian container ship NEVER GIVEN,” he said. a statement from the SCA.
“He’s free,” said an official involved in the rescue operation.
After dredging and excavation work over the weekend, SCA rescue workers and a team from Dutch firm Smit Salvage had managed to partially refloat the ship early Monday using tugs, two shipping and marine sources said.
Evergreen Line, which rents the Ever Given, confirmed that the ship had been successfully refloated and said it would be repositioned and inspected for seaworthiness.
At least 369 vessels are waiting to transit the canal, including dozens of container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels, SCA’s Rabie said.
The authority previously said it could speed up convoys through the canal once the Ever Given was released. “We will not waste a second,” Rabie told Egyptian state television.
He said it could take two and a half to three days to clear the backlog, and a canal source said more than 100 ships could enter the canal daily. Shipping group Maersk said global shipping disruptions could take weeks or months to resolve.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who had not publicly commented on the blockade, said Egypt had ended the crisis and ensured the resumption of trade through the canal.
Oil prices fell about one percent to $ 63.95 a barrel. Shares of Taiwan-listed Evergreen Marine Corp, the ship’s lessor, rose 1.75%.
About 15 percent of the world’s maritime traffic transits the Suez Canal, which is a major source of foreign exchange earnings for Egypt. The strike is costing the channel between $ 14 million and $ 15 million a day.
Shipping rates for oil tankers nearly doubled after the ship was stranded, and the lockdown has disrupted global supply chains, threatening costly delays for companies already facing shipping restrictions COVID-19.
Maersk was one of the carriers that redirected cargo around the Cape of Good Hope, adding up to two weeks to travel and additional fuel costs.
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