DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – A huge cargo ship capsized sideways in Egypt’s Suez Canal, blocking traffic on an important east-west waterway for global transport, according to satellite data accessed on Wednesday -market.
Traffic on the narrow waterway that divides mainland Africa from the Sinai Peninsula came to a halt on Tuesday after MV Ever Given, a container ship with a Panama flag and Japan-listed owner, jammed.
It was not immediately clear what made Ever Given turn sideways on the channel. GAC, a global transportation and logistics company, described Ever Given as suffering “a blackout when moving north,” without giving details. Others blamed the high winds for turning the vessel over.
Ever Given’s bow was touching the east wall of the canal, while its stern appeared to be lodged against the west wall, according to satellite data from MarineTraffic.com. Several tugboats surrounded the ship, probably trying to push it in the right way, the data showed.
An image posted on Instagram by a user on another cargo ship on hold appeared to show Ever Given trapped on the other side of the channel.
Channel officials could not be reached immediately on Wednesday. The ship appeared to be stuck about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) north of the mouth of the canal to the south, near the city of Suez.
Cargo ships and oil tankers appeared to be lining up at the southern end of the Suez Canal, waiting to make it across the waterway to the Mediterranean Sea, according to data from MarineTraffic.
A United Nations database listed Ever Given as owned by Shoei Kisen KK, a ship leasing company based in Imabari, Japan. The company could not be reached immediately for comment on Wednesday. The ship had listed Rotterdam in the Netherlands as a destination before being trapped in the canal.
Evergreen Marine Corp., a major shipping company based in Taiwan, also listed Ever Given among the ships in its fleet and the ship displays its color scheme and logo.
Evergreen could not be reached immediately for comment, although the Taiwanese state-owned Central News Agency quoted unidentified sources from the company, saying the ship was overwhelmed by strong winds as it entered the Suez Canal from the Red Sea, but none of its members containers sank.
Ever Given, built in 2018 with a length of almost 400 meters (a quarter mile) and a width of 59 meters (193 feet), is among the largest cargo ships in the world.
Opened in 1869, the Suez Canal provides a crucial link for the transport of oil, natural gas and cargo from east to west. About 10% of world trade flows through the waterway and remains one of Egypt’s main sources of foreign currency. In 2015, the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi completed a major expansion of the canal, allowing it to accommodate the largest ships in the world.
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Associated Press editor Taijing Wu in Taipei, Taiwan contributed to this report.
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Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.