Ship blocking Egypt’s Suez Canal imperils global trade as 150 vessels remain stuck
- Since the Ever Given ran aground on Tuesday, efforts to free the container vessel with dredgers, digging and the aid of high tides have yet to push it aside
- The head of the canal authority said navigation through the waterway would remain halted till they refloat the vessel
A skyscraper-sized cargo ship wedged across Egypt’s Suez Canal further imperilled global shipping on Thursday as at least 150 other vessels needing to pass through the crucial waterway idled waiting for the obstruction to clear, authorities said.
The Ever Given, a Panama-flagged ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground on Tuesday in the narrow, man-made canal dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula.
Authorities began work again to free the vessel on Thursday morning after halting for the night, an Egyptian canal authority official said. The official said workers hoped to avoid offloading containers from the vessel as it would be a days-long effort to do so that could extend the closure.
So far, dredgers have tried to clear silt around the massive ship. Tug boats nudged the vessel alongside it, trying to gain momentum. From the shore, at least one backhoe dug into the canal’s sandy banks, suggesting the bow of the ship had ploughed into it. However, satellite photos taken Thursday by Planet Labs Inc. and analysed by Associated Press showed the vessel still stuck in the same location.
Lt. Gen. Osama Rabei, the head of the canal authority, said navigation through the waterway would remain halted till they refloat the vessel.
A team from Boskalis, a Dutch firm specialised in salvaging, arrived at the canal on Thursday, though one of the company’s top officials warned removing the vessel could take “days to weeks.”