Giant ship blocking Suez canal refloated

THE was refloated and the Suez Canal reopened on March 29, sparking relief almost a week after the huge container ship got stuck during a sandstorm and blocked a major artery for global trade.

AFP correspondents observed tugboat crews sounding their foghorns in celebration after the 400m-long cargo megaship Ever Given was dislodged from the banks of the Suez.

World oil prices eased on the news of the reopening of the waterway that connects the Mediterranean and Red Sea and through which more than 10 per cent of world trade passes.

Suez Canal Authority (SCA) head Admiral Osama Rabie at around 3pm local time “announced the resumption of shipping traffic in the Suez Canal”, the authority said in a statement.

The SCA has cautioned, however, that it will take more than three days to clear the traffic jams of ships that were stuck at the northern and southern ends of the canal. By the end of the drama, the tailback had reached 425 vessels.

Dutch company SMIT Salvage, which played a key role in the operation, said its “team of experts, working in close collaboration with the Suez Canal Authority, successfully refloated” the ship at 3:05pm local time.

The operation, carried out under time pressure and “the watchful eye of the world”, required 13 tug boats and the dredging of approximately 30,000 cubic metres of sand, said a statement by Peter Berdowski, CEO of its parent company Boskalis.

The breakthrough followed what appeared to be a setback and came moments after the ship had temporarily settled back into the diagonal position it had been stuck in after running aground on March 23.

Maritime data company Lloyd’s List said the blockage had held up an estimated $9.6 billion worth of cargo each day between Asia and Europe.