Excavators and dredgers fight to free ships blocking Suez Canal

A view shows the Ever Given container ship in the Suez Canal in this Maxar Technologies satellite image taken on March 28, 2021. Maxar Technologies / Handout via REUTERS

ISMAILIA, Egypt – Suez Canal salvage crews stepped up excavation and dredging on Sunday around a massive container ship blocking the busy waterway before attempts to refloat it, and two sources said the work had been complicated by the rock under the bow of the ship.

Excavators were working to remove parts of the canal bank and expand the dredging near the bow of the ship to a depth of 18 meters (19.7 yards), the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said in a statement.

No further attempts to free the ship with tugs were mentioned, although canal officials and sources said they hoped to take advantage of high tides on Sunday and Monday to dislodge the ship.

A specialist tug registered in the Netherlands arrived and will join forces to refloat the ship on Sunday night, said the ship’s technical manager Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM).

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has ordered preparations for the possible removal of some of the 18,300 containers from the ship, SCA President Osama Rabie told Egypt’s Extra News.

Any operations to lighten the ship’s cargo would not begin before Monday, an SCA source said, as rescue teams try to maneuver the ship to free it before high tides recede next week.

The 400-meter (430-yard) long Ever Given jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds early Tuesday, halting maritime traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia. .

At least 369 vessels are waiting to transit the canal, Rabie said, including dozens of container ships, bulk carriers, tankers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels.

Carriers affected by the lockdown may be offered discounts, Rabie said, adding that he believed investigations would show the channel was not responsible for landing the Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container ships.

SCA rescue workers and a team from Dutch firm Smit Salvage have been weighing how much pulling power they can use on the ship without risking damage and whether it will be necessary to remove some of the cargo with a crane to re-float.

Experts have warned that such a process could be complex and lengthy. Rabie said he hoped it would not be necessary, but that Egypt would accept offers of international assistance if it switched to that strategy.

A ballast tank in the bow of the ship was damaged and the ship will have to be inspected once it is released, said two people familiar with the salvage operation.

Suction pumps have been deployed to expel the water from the tank, SCA sources said, and one of the sources said divers had been working to repair the hole.

SOIL EXPERTS

So far, the dredging has displaced at least 27,000 cubic meters of sand and mud around the ship, the SCA said Sunday.

However, two SCA sources told Reuters that a mass of rock had been found on the bow of the ship, complicating rescue efforts. That appeared to be confirmed by the focus late Sunday on excavation to remove the channel lining around the front of the ship.

Soil experts are on site to advise on reclamation efforts and an additional dredge was expected to arrive by March 30, BSM said.

From the dredging carried out so far, it was still unclear whether the ship was stuck in soft sand, packed sand or clay, which will determine how easily it can move freely, said an official involved in the salvage operation.

Two powerful new tugs expected to be in use on Monday could provide a boost. “We think that’s what it’s going to take in terms of horsepower … to have a decent try, a decent chance to try to float,” the official said.

The latest efforts come after officials said some progress had been made on Friday and Saturday.

“The rudder was not moving and now it is moving, the propeller is working now, there was no water under the bow, and now there is water underneath, and yesterday there was a deviation of 4 meters in the bow and stern,” he said. Rabie to Egyptian state television.

Approximately 15% of the world’s maritime traffic transits the Suez Canal, which is a key source of foreign exchange earnings for Egypt. The current strike is costing the channel between $ 14 million and $ 15 million a day.

Shipping rates for petroleum product tankers nearly doubled after the ship was stranded, and the lockdown has disrupted global supply chains, threatening costly delays for companies already grappling with restrictions. of COVID-19.

If the lockdown is prolonged, carriers may decide to divert their shipments around the Cape of Good Hope, adding about two weeks to travel and additional fuel costs.

A note from AP Moeller Maersk seen by Reuters said it had so far redirected 15 ships around the Cape after calculating that the trip would amount to the current delay in sailing to Suez and queuing.

The SCA has said it can speed up convoys through the canal once the Ever Given is released.

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