The world is getting ready to see the free flow of traffic at the Suez Canal again, after reports have it that the giant cargo ship blocking the channel for almost one week now, has been partially refloated, and turned in the right direction.
The good news was confirmed by Suez Canal and marine services firms in the early hours of Monday that the 400 metre-long MV Ever Given has started to move – but did not provide further details about when the vessel would be set free.
Inchcape confirmed in a tweet: ‘The MV Ever Given was successfully re-floated at 04:30. She is being secured at the moment. More information about next steps will follow once they are known.’ Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority (SCA) confirmed the position of the 220,000 tonne ship has now been ‘reorientated 80% percent in the right direction’.
SCA’s Chief Osama Rabie said in a statement that the stern has moved to 102 metres (335 feet) from the shore, compared to its previous position of four metres. ‘We are not finished yet, but it has moved,’ he said. Ever Given ship blocking Suez Canal is partially re-floated Play Video Loaded: 0% 0:00Progress: 0% PlayMute Current Time0:00 / Duration Time1:12 Fullscreen
The rescue mission was ramped up on Sunday as two extra tugboats were drafted in to open up the Egyptian canal ramp which has been blocked since Tuesday, sparking a global trading crisis.
The Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned cargo ship got stuck in a single-lane stretch of the canal, holding up more than $9 billion (£6.5 billion) in global trade and strained supply chains already battered by the pandemic.
Leth Agencies said the breakthrough came following intensive efforts to push and pull the MV Ever Given with around 10 tugboats, while vacuuming up sand underneath the ship with several dredgers at high tide. Videos shared on social media appeared to show tugboats in the canal sounding their horns in celebration of the vessel being wrenched from the shore in the most significant sign of progress yet. Although the update is positive, Boskalis – the parent company of Smit Salvage which is assisting in efforts to dislodge the vessel – said their work is not over.
Boskalis CEO Peter Berdowski said completing the operation would not be a ‘piece of cake’. He said a new tug will arrive and water will be injected under the ship’s bow to help free it – but if those efforts do not work then containers might have to be removed. As efforts continue today, at least 367 vessels carrying everything from crude oil to cattle are still waiting to pass through the vital waterway. The build-up of vessels waiting to get through grew so large that it could be seen on satellite images from space.
Dozens more have diverted their boats around the Cape of Good Hope at Africa’s southern tip, adding around two weeks to journeys and threatening delivery delays. Although the Ever Given is at risk of damage in its current position, the company that owns the vessel, Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd., dismissed concerns on Monday, saying the ship’s engine was functional and could continue its trip normally when freed. It wasn’t clear whether the ship, hauling goods from Asia to Europe, would head to its original destination of Rotterdam or if it will need to enter another port for repairs.