Traffic resumes in Suez Canal after giant stranded ship refloated

Ever Given, the stranded container ship, was fully refloated and the vessel is heading to the Great Bitter Lakes for further checking and investigation, the canal authority said.

"The MV EVER GIVEN was fully re-floated and straight in SC Passage at 14:50 lt. 29/03/2021. The vessel is heading to the Great Bitter Lakes for further checking and investigation. Next the vessels in the Great Bitter Lakes will proceed heading to Suez," Inchcape Shipping tweeted.

The Suez Canal Authority earlier confirmed that tugging operations to release the ship had been relaunched and later updated after the container was finally refloated.

"Admiral Osama Rabie, Chairman and Managing Director of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), has announced today, Monday 29th March, 2021, that the Panamanian container ship has been successfully refloated. This was the result of successful push and tow maneuvers which led to the restoration of 80% of the vessel’s direction; with the stern 102 m. away from the bank of the Canal now instead of 4 m. prior to the refloating," Suez Canal Authority said in a statement.

Egypt's Suez Canal, one of the world's busiest trade routes, found itself blocked last Tuesday when a huge container ship ran aground.

The incident led to long tailbacks on the canal, stopping dozens of other vessels from passing through.

About 10 per cent of global trade passes through the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea and provides the shortest sea link between Asia and Europe.

The container ship named Ever Given, which is registered in Panama, and operated by Taiwanese transport company Evergreen Marine, ran aground and became lodged sideways across the waterway was bound for the port city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands from China and was passing northwards through the canal on its way to the Mediterranean, when it ran aground sideways after being hit by strong winds.