Giant Ship Blocking Suez Canal Finally Freed After 6 Days

6 WORLD MUMBAI | TUESDAY, 30 MARCH 2021 > Giant ship blocking Suez Canal finally freed after 6 days Data estimates say it could take more than 10 days to clear the backlog of ships with more than 367 vessels piled up on either end of the canal AP/PTI water halfway between the north and refloated the Ever Given … thereby making costs ships hundreds of thousands of dol- 29 March south end of the canal, where the ship free passage through the Suez Canal pos- lars in fuel and other costs. will undergo technical inspection, canal sible again." The obstruction has created a The freeing of the vessel came after Salvage teams on Monday set free a colos- authorities said. massive traffic jam in the vital passage, dredgers vacuumed up sand and mud sal container ship that has halted global Satellite data from MarineTraffic.com holding up $9 billion each day in global from the vessel's bow and 10 tugboats trade through the Suez Canal, bringing an confirmed that the ship was moving away trade and straining supply chains already pushed and pulled the vessel for five days, end to a crisis that for nearly a week had from the shoreline toward the center of burdened by the coronavirus pandemic. managing to partially refloat it at dawn. clogged one of the world's most vital mar- the artery. It remained unclear when traffic It wasn't clear whether the Ever Given, itime arteries. Video released by the Suez Canal through the canal would return to normal. a Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned ship Helped by the peak of high tide, a flo- Authority showed the Ever Given being At least 367 vessels, carrying everything hauling goods from Asia to Europe, would tilla of tugboats managed to wrench the escorted by the tugboats that helped free from crude oil to cattle, have piled up on continue to its original destination of bulbous bow of the skyscraper-sized Ever it, each sounding off their horns in jubila- either end of the canal, waiting to pass. Rotterdam or if it would need to enter Given from the canal's sandy bank, tion after nearly a week of chaos. Data firm Refinitiv estimated it could another port for repairs. where it had been firmly lodged since “We pulled it off!” said Peter Berdowski, take more than 10 days to clear the backlog Ship operators did not offer a timeline last Tuesday. CEO of Boskalis, the salvage firm hired to of ships. Meanwhile, dozens of vessels have for the reopening of the crucial canal, After hauling the fully laden 220,000- extract the Ever Given, in a statement. “I opted for the alternate route around the which carries over 10% of global trade, ton vessel over the canal bank, the sal- am excited to announce that our team of Cape of Good Hope at Africa's southern tip including 7% of the world's oil. Over 19,000 Helped by the peak of high tide, a number of tugboats managed to wrench the vage team was pulling the vessel toward experts, working in close collaboration — a 5,000-kilometer (3,100-mile) detour ships passed through last year, according bulbous bow of the skyscraper-sized Ever Given from the canal's sandy bank the Great Bitter Lake, a wide stretch of with the Suez Canal Authority, successfully that adds some two weeks to journeys and to canal authorities..

Load more