Suez Canal: Container ship freed, traffic moving again
World shipping is now playing catch up after the Suez Canal traffic started moving again. The huge Ever Given container ship has been dislodged and is now heading to a shipyard for inspections. The container ship was stuck, sideways, in the Suez Canal for nearly a week with over 300 ships waiting at either end of the canal to get through. Some lost patience and headed for the longer route, around the bottom of Africa, which will add another week to their voyages.
Tug boats spent all of yesterday working to free the bulbous bow of the ship after being able to refloat the stern earlier in the day. The salvage company which was called in to solve the blockage of the Suez is delighted they’ve been successful.
“With a length of 400 meters and a width of nearly 60 meters, this giant ship had been wedged in this vital shipping route since March 23, 2021 blocking all shipping traffic.”
The ship refloated yesterday at 3pm Egypt Standard Time (7pm Thai time). It’s now being towed to the Great Bitter Lake in Egypt. The vessel will be inspected, and if all goes well, it will resume its scheduled shipment.
The accident halted traffic on the world’s busiest trade routes, causing chaos for global shipping. An average of 80 to 90 ships pass through the canal each day. The accident halted hundreds of shipments carrying billions of US dollars worth of freight. Now, the head of the Suez Canal Authority says they will work to help 400 ships transit across the canal, a journey that takes 10 to 12 hours.
SOURCE: CNN
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