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The Ever Given super freighter remains stuck blocking the Suez Canal, blocking traffic in both directions – Photo: Business Insider
The Ever Given was stranded since March 23 in the Suez Canal on the territory of Egypt. This incident caused the congestion of the Suez Canal, one of the most important shipping routes in the world, which affected world trade.
Hope shone
According to Reuters, thanks to a combination of sand and silt dredging around the ship, towing and pushing with a tugboat, the Ever Given has had some displacement. went ahead small on the side of the bow. Its stern and rudder were also mobile.
The head of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), Osama Rabie, said on local television that water had been flowing under the ship. “We hope the boat can move from its current position at any time,” Rabie said.
As of March 26, around 20,000 tonnes of sand was dredged around the bow. Towing efforts resumed on the afternoon of March 27 and intensified on March 28. The Suez Canal Authority said it may still be necessary to vacuum more sand around the ship to free it. If successful efforts are combined with high tides, the ship could set sail next week.
The SCA hopes that it will not have to remove hundreds of containers from the ship to reduce its payload, but high tides and winds are hampering many attempts to rescue the ship from the stranded position.
On March 26, Shoei Kisen Company, the owner of the Ever Given ship, said the ship showed no signs of damage to the engine and other equipment, the rudder and propeller were fine, and there was no water overflow. Once released, the ship should be able to function normally.
In the event that the Ever Given vessel cannot be moved next week, some 600 cargo containers will have to be dismantled at the bow to reduce the vessel’s load. However, according to SCA, this solution is also very difficult as it takes many days because finding the location to contain these containers is also a difficult problem.
A shipping company told Reuters that the SCA has informed dealers that they are ready to bring new ships to the canal. Another source said the SCA had plans to quickly operate the 133 transshipment ships here as soon as the Ever Given ship was released.
The Dutch company Smit Salvage, involved in the rescue of the ship Ever Given, said that this weekend it is carrying an extra heavy tug. Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly also thanked international partners for helping to free the stranded ship. There are a total of 14 heavy tugs involved in the release of the Ever Given ship.
321 ships are waiting in line to enter the canal
The traffic disruption in Suez has nearly doubled the cost of shipping barrels of oil and the global cargo supply chain has stalled, and companies can face the high costs of this delay, while it has been very difficult due to the effects of COVID-19. pandemic.
In the event of a prolonged attempt to free the ship, the owners may have to decide to have the ship bypass the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa), which will take about two more weeks for the new cruise and additional costs made out of fuel.
Ships are currently still waiting for the Ever Given ship to be released and no ships have changed direction.
The 400-meter-long ship, four times the length of a football field, diagonally blocked the southern part of the Suez Canal, blocking one of the world’s busiest waterways from both directions.
For the rescue operation, approximately 15% of the maritime traffic passing through the Suez Canal and the hundreds of freighters waiting in line were cleared. A total of 321 freighters are waiting to enter the canal.
