ISMAILIA, Egypt (AP) – Tugboats and a specialized suction dredge worked on Friday to dislodge a giant container ship that has been stuck sideways in Egypt’s Suez Canal for the past three days, blocking a crucial waterway for global transport.
The Ever Dado, a Panama-flagged ship that transports cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground on the narrow channel that runs between Africa and the Sinai Peninsula. He was stuck on a single-lane stretch of the canal, about six kilometers (3.7 miles) north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez.
The ship, owned by Japanese company Shoei Kisen KK, blocked traffic on the canal, causing headaches for global trade.
About 10% of world trade flows through the channel, which is particularly important for the transportation of oil. The closure could also affect oil and gas shipments from the Middle East to Europe.
At least 150 ships were waiting for Ever Given to be released, including ships near Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea, Port Suez on the Red Sea and those already trapped in Egypt’s Great Bitter Lake canal system, said Leth Agencies, which provides services to the channel.
As of Friday morning, the ship remained stranded, he added to Leth Agencies. It is not yet clear when the route would be reopened.
An Egyptian official at the Suez Canal Authority described the work as complex and said that those trying to dislodge the ship wanted to avoid complications that could extend the closure of the canal. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to speak to journalists.
Ever Given’s bow was touching the east wall, while its stern appeared to be lodged against the west wall.
A team from Boskalis, a Dutch rescue company, started working with the channel’s authority on Thursday. Rescue efforts focused on dredging to remove sand and mud from the port side of the ship’s bow.
The Suez Canal Authority, which operates the waterway, has deployed tugs and a specialized suction dredge that is capable of displacing 2,000 cubic meters of material every hour.
The Suez Canal Authority said on Thursday that it would be necessary to remove between 15,000 to 20,000 cubic meters (530,000 to 706,000 cubic feet) of sand to reach a depth of 12 to 16 meters (39 to 52 feet). That depth is likely to allow the ship to float freely again, he said.
It was not immediately clear what caused Ever Given to be arrested on Tuesday. GAC, a global transportation and logistics company, said the ship went through a blackout without giving further details.
Evergreen Marine Corp., a large shipping company based in Taiwan that operates the ship, said in a statement that Ever Given was overcome by strong winds entering the channel from the Red Sea, but none of its containers sank.
The Suez Canal Authority also blamed the bad weather for the incident.
Using data from trackers from the Automatic Identification System on ships at sea, data company Refinitiv shared an analysis with the AP showing that more than 300 ships remained en route to the waterway in the next two weeks.
Some ships may still change course, but the crushing of ships that list the Suez Canal as a destination shows that an even larger portfolio is approaching for shippers who are already under pressure in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.