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CAIRO: Maritime traffic through Egypt’s Suez Canal resumed on Monday (March 29) after a giant container ship that had been blocking the waterway for nearly a week was re-floated, the canal authority said.
A Reuters witness saw the ship move and a shipment tracker and Egyptian television showed it positioned in the center of the channel.
“Admiral Osama Rabie, head of the Suez Canal Authority, announced the resumption of maritime traffic in the Suez Canal,” the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said in a statement.
Television footage showed the tugboat crews wailing their sirens in celebration after the ship was evacuated.
The advance followed what appeared to be a setback and came moments after the ship had temporarily settled into the diagonal position in which it had been stuck after running aground last Tuesday.
Aided by the peak of high tide, a flotilla of tugs finally managed to tear the bulbous bow off the sandy shore of the canal, setting it free.
After transporting the fully loaded 220,000-ton vessel over the canal bank, the rescue team was pulling the vessel into the Great Bitter Lake, a wide stretch of water midway between the north and south end of the canal, where boat will undergo a technical inspection. channel authorities said.
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Satellite data from MarineTraffic.com confirmed that the ship was moving away from the coast towards the center of the artery.
Evergreen Line said Monday that the Ever Given container ship would be inspected for its seaworthiness.
Evergreen-listed Taiwan, which rents the ship, said decisions regarding the ship’s loading would be made after the inspection and that it would be coordinated with the ship’s owner after the investigation reports were completed.
READ: Singapore navigates shipping restriction, container congestion amid surge in cargo demand
KNOCK-ON EFFECTS
The obstruction has created a massive traffic jam on the vital passage, withholding $ 9 billion each day in global trade and putting pressure on supply chains already burdened by the coronavirus pandemic.
Egypt was estimated to have lost between $ 12 million and $ 14 million in revenue from the canal for each day it was closed, according to the canal authority.
The tail of the ships has reached 425 at both ends of the canal, in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, carrying everything from crude oil to livestock.
The SCA has said it can speed up convoys through the canal once the Ever Given is 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 eliminate the delay.
Shipping group Maersk said global shipping disruptions could take weeks or months to resolve.
READ: The blockade of the Suez Canal may disrupt supply to the region: Ong Ye Kung
The crisis has forced companies to choose between waiting or diverting ships through Africa, which adds a huge fuel bill, 9,000 km and more than a week of travel to the trip between Asia and Europe.
Russia offered assistance on Sunday, following other countries, including the United States, which have made similar offers.
In a sign of the collateral effects of the Suez blockade, authorities in war-torn Syria said the crisis had affected its fuel imports from Iran and forced it to ration already scarce supplies.
Romania’s animal health agency said 11 boats carrying livestock out of the country were also affected, while the charity Animals International warned of a possible “tragedy” that would affect some 130,000 animals.
