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Ever Given ran aground in the Suez Canal on Tuesday. Hundreds of other ships are caught in the tail formed behind the giant land-based ship, which is estimated to cost more than SEK 80 billion a day in trade.
Therefore, the fight to free the ship becomes more and more desperate. Hope was awakened on Friday when they managed to free the rudder.
– Yesterday at 10:30 pm, the rudder moved and the engines were able to start. We expected a major breakthrough, but the tide was very low, says Osama Rabie, head of the Egyptian authorities on the Suez Canal, according to the New York Times.
The key factors in getting the ship out of the Suez Canal
On Saturday, 14 tugboats worked to try to get rid of the giant – Ever Given is 400 meters long and weighs 200,000 tons – the ship. Two major attempts were made on Saturday night.
The New York Times reporter was aboard one of the tugs and recounts how three other tugs pulled up alongside Ever Given, on the starboard side, to try to keep it stable. Other tugs prepared to pull and release the boat, but the tide came and went, without much success.
It now depends on a number of key factors if you want to be successful in releasing the ship in the relatively near future.
Higher tides. On Monday, the water rise is expected to be more than half a meter, something that experts hope will be enough.
Larger and more powerful tugs. Some are already in place. Two more are expected on Sunday.
Empty the ballast tanks. High capacity pumps are in place and pump ballast water to lighten the boat. So far, 9,000 tons of water have been extracted.
Continued dredging. More than 20,000 tons of sand and clay have been excavated. The excavation continues in a frenzy.
It may take weeks
If none of this helps, it may be necessary to start lifting the containers off the ship. An expensive, slow and complicated process. John Denholm, president of the UK Maritime Trade Organization, tells the BBC that it will probably be necessary to bring special equipment, such as a crane that can reach 60 meters in height.
– If we have to go through that process, I suspect it will be weeks, he says.
