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Rescue teams in the Suez Canal continue efforts to dredge and tow, on Sunday, to float a huge container ship blocking the congested canal. But two sources said the effort was complicated by a rock mass below the ship’s bow.
Rescue teams in the Suez Canal continue efforts to dredge and tow, Sunday, to float a huge container ship blocking the congested waterway. But two sources said the effort was complicated by a rock mass below the ship’s bow.
Osama Rabie, head of the Suez Canal Authority, said Sunday that the authority is studying some cuts to the ships affected by obstructing navigation in the canal.
Speaking to the Al-Arabiya channel, he added: “We are thinking only of the stranded ships and some other cuts, after we finalize the stranded ship problem.” He added that he believed investigations would show that the canal was not responsible for the stranding of the ship.
He explained that the canal loses between 13 and 14 million dollars in daily income after the suspension of navigation due to the delinquency of the container ship, indicating that at least 369 ships, tanks and containers are waiting to cross the canal, including dozens of containers. , bulk cargo ships and LNG or LPG carriers.
Likewise, Rabie said, on Sunday, that the efforts to float the gigantic Panamanian container ship NEVER GIVEN continue 24 hours a day, carrying out dredging work during the day and carrying out towing maneuvers at times compatible with the conditions of the tide.
He explained that the results of the dredging work of a well-known dredge, one of the authority’s dredgers, has so far reached 27 thousand cubic meters of sand, at a depth of 18 meters, taking into account the occurrence of landslides. From the bottom. from the ship to the areas to be dredged.
Dredging work continues to remove the sand that surrounds the bow of the vessel to facilitate the floating process of the vessel, together with the pulling maneuvers of the Authority’s tugs at times consistent with the tides and wind direction.
The head of the authority indicated that the tension maneuvers were carried out yesterday by 12 tugs operating from three different directions, so that the two tugs Baraka 1 and Izzat Adel tighten the bow of the ship, while 6 tugs push the stern of the ship. ship to the south, and four other tugs press the stern of the ship to the south.
Rabie announced that the two new locomotives, the “Abdel Hamid Youssef” locomotive and the “Mustafa Mahmoud” locomotive, will be pushed to participate in the pulling maneuvers once their construction is completed at the Port Said Shipyard with a force of 70 tons. , and the end of the sea and operational experiments, in order to make use of its capabilities and capabilities that keep up with the latest developments. Marine auxiliary unit manufacturing technology came to him.
The two new locomotives are similar in technical specifications, each with a length of 35.87 meters and a width of 12.5 meters, with a total draft of 5.75 meters and a speed of 13 knots. It also has high-capacity and efficient propellers manufactured by the German company Voith, and machines from the Japanese company DAIHATSU, according to the authority.
321 ships waiting –
Rabih also told the Egyptian channel “Extra News” that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi had ordered preparations for the stage to unload part of the ship’s cargo to help it float.
The Evergiven, a 400-meter long ship, was stranded in a southern section of the canal more than five days ago, in strong winds, disrupting global shipping traffic on one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
As of Saturday, 321 ships were waiting to cross the canal, including dozens of containers, ships of bulk material and ships of liquefied natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas.
Rabie told Egyptian television: “There are positive signs from yesterday and the first day.”
And he added: “The rudder was not moving, it was still moving, the propeller was still working now, the lieutenant colonel had no water underneath, there was still water under him. We are yesterday at a deviation of about 4 meters in front and 4 meters from behind “.
But two authority sources told Reuters a mass of rock was found under the ship’s nose, complicating rescue efforts.
Rescuers from the agency and a team from the Dutch company Smit Salvage are investigating whether some of the 18,300 Evergiven containers must be removed with a crane so that they can float.
Experts warned that such a process would be complicated and lengthy.
Rabie said: “Today we are divided into two halves, 12 hours for dredgers and 12 hours for locomotives, because not all time is suitable for locomotives due to the tide,” indicating that 14 locomotives were shipped.
About 15 percent of the world’s freight traffic passes through the Suez Canal.
Tanker freight rates nearly doubled after the ship was stranded and the impact of the canal closure on global supply chains, threatening to create costly delays for companies already suffering due to Covid restrictions. 19.
And if the disruption continues, shipping companies may decide to re-route their shipments to take the Cape of Good Hope route, which means an increase in the travel period by about two weeks and the cost of additional fuel.
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