Ever Given: Ship stuck in Suez Canal finally freed
The cargo ship stuck in the Suez Canal for days has been freed, authorities and visuals from the passageway confirmed on Monday. The ship, 'Ever Given', had been stuck in the key trade channel since last Tuesday, blocking the canal for other ships. It has reportedly held up $9 billion in global trade each day. Earlier in the day, the ship had "partially refloated."
Authorities confirm Ever Given's bow is freed
Ever Given was freed after tug boats spent hours on Monday to free the bow of the vessel after dislodging the stern earlier in the day. Martijn Schuttevaer, a spokesperson for salvage company Boskalis, confirmed to CNN that the ship's bow had been freed. Satellite data from MarineTraffic.com also showed the ship away from the banks of the Suez Canal.
Here is a visual of the Ever Given moving
How did the canal get blocked?
Ever Given, a Panama-registered container ship, was traveling to Rotterdam in the Netherlands from China. While passing the canal, the 400-m long and 59-m wide ship got wedged in due to a mishap caused by bad weather. Evergreen Marine—a Taiwanese transport company operating the ship—said it suspected that the ship had gotten hit by a sudden strong wind, causing the hull to deviate.
Ships had opted for 2-week slower alternative route
Movement on the Suez Canal—which carries more than 12% of the world trade by volume—had remained blocked due to the Ever Given, leading to long queues. Egypt had diverted ships to an older channel to minimize disruption to global trade. Over two dozen vessels had decided to take the alternative route around Africa, which is roughly two weeks slower and would cause delivery delays.
