WORLD / MID-EAST
Stuck Suez vessel refloated
Ship dislodged after intensive operation to free it
Published: Mar 29, 2021 05:28 PM
This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows the cargo ship MV <em>Ever Given</em> stuck in the Suez Canal near Suez, Egypt, on Saturday. Photo: VCG

This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows the cargo ship MV Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal near Suez, Egypt, on Saturday. Photo: VCG

The Ever Given was refloated and the Suez Canal reopened Monday, sparking relief almost a week after the huge container ship got stuck during a sandstorm and blocked a major artery for global trade.

Tugboat crews sounded their foghorns in celebration after the Ever Given, a cargo megaship the length of four football fields, was dislodged from the banks of the Suez.

The head of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), Admiral Osama Rabie, around 3 pm 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 3:05 pm local time. 

The operation, carried out under time pressure and "the watchful eye of the world," required 13 tugboats and the dredging of approximately 30,000 cubic meters 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.

The ship had been partially dislodged early Monday, triggering immediate praise from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

"Egyptians have been successful in putting to an end the crisis of the stranded ship in the Suez Canal, despite the enormous complexity surrounding the process," Sisi said.

Egypt was estimated to have lost some $12-14 million in revenue from the canal for each day it was closed, according to the canal authority. 

Salvage crews have been working around the clock ever since the accident which has been blamed on high winds and poor visibility during a sandstorm. 

They had focused on efforts to remove sand around the ship, which was cleared up to a depth of 18 meters, SCA spokesperson George Safwat said on Sunday.

The crisis had forced companies to choose between waiting or rerouting vessels around Africa, which adds 9,000 ­kilometers and over a week of travel to the trip between Asia and Europe.