Suez Canal steps up efforts to free stuck vessel, U.S. watches energy market impact

CAIRO, (Reuters) - Dredging and tugging aimed at freeing a mega vessel stuck in the Suez Canal failed yesterday to end a blockage that has lifted shipping rates for fuel tankers and scrambled global supply chains for everything from grains to baby clothes.

U.S. President Joe Biden said his administration was looking at what it could do to help, after the 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given ran aground in the vital trade waterway on Tuesday due to strong wind.

"We have equipment and capacity that most countries don’t have. And we are seeing what help we can be," Biden told reporters in Delaware.

A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Navy was prepared to send a team of dredging experts to the canal, but was awaiting approval from local authorities.

The latest effort to dislodge the ship with tug boats was suspended late on Friday, and attempts would resume on Saturday, three sources at the canal said. The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) could not immediately be reached for comment.

Shipping rates for oil product tankers nearly doubled after the ship became stranded, and efforts to free the giant vessel may take weeks and be complicated by unstable weather, threatening costly delays for companies already dealing with COVID-19 restrictions.

All its 25 crew members, who have remained on board, were safe, in good health and spirits, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), the Ever Given's technical manager said.

A Dutch rescue team had confirmed two additional tugs would arrive on March 28 to help dislodge the ship, BSM said.

"There have been no reports of pollution or cargo damage and initial investigations rule out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the grounding," a BSM statement said.

Earlier, the SCA said efforts to free the ship by tug had resumed following the completion of dredging operations at its bow to remove 20,000 cubic metres of sand.

"The tugging operations require the availability of a number of supporting factors including wind direction and tides, which makes it a complex technical process," the authority said.