THE giant container that is blocking the Suez Canal has been partially refloated – but things aren't moving freely just yet.
Teams working to free the vessel said it remained trapped for now and warned it remains unclear how long it would take to fully reopen the canal even after the ship eventually gets moving.
Footage posted on social media appeared to show the Ever Given had straightened after its stern had swung towards the canal bank enabling other ships to pass.
The 400m-long Ever Given became wedged in the shipping lane due to extreme weather conditions last Tuesday.
Inchcape, a maritime services firm, is one of several sources reporting that the boat had been freed at 4.30am local time.
News agency Reuters, citing shipping sources, said the cargo vessel was almost fully re-floated and had restarted its engines.
Apart from goods, some 130,000 head of livestock on 11 ships sent from Romania have also been held up as a result of Ever Given’s stranding.
“My greatest fear is that animals run out of food and water and they get stuck on the ships because they cannot be unloaded somewhere else for paperwork reasons,” Gerit Weidinger, EU coordinator for NGO Animals International, told The Guardian.
Egypt has sent fodder and three teams of vets to examine livestock stuck at sea – some bound for Jordan.
Follow our live blog below for all the latest Suez Canal news and updates…
- John Hall
SUEZ CRISIS WAS INEVITABLE, RESEARCHER SAYS
A leading researcher at Plymouth University’s maritime cyberthreat research group blames cargo companies over doing it and suggested the crisis was inevitable.
Rory Hopcraft explained: “The ships are not just larger, they’re carrying more goods. So rather than spreading the risks over three or four smaller ships, all your eggs are in one basket – it’s all tied up in one big ship.
“Half the world’s ports can’t even deal with ships this size,” he continued.
“If those terminals that can (accommodate megaships), aren’t able to service them for whatever reason – local power cuts or military action – then these ships can’t be serviced at all,” referring to the weaknesses of the entire supply chain, that leaves ships open to piracy or cyberattacks.
- John Hall
EVER GIVEN PARTIALLY REFLOATED THANKS TO SUPERMOON
High tides brought on by a supermoon are partially to thank for the refloating of the mega-shop blocking the Suez Canal.
Photos showed the Ever Given had straightened after its stern had swung towards the canal bank allowing other boats to pass.
Canal officials said the Ever Given had been turned "80 per cent in the right direction" after the stern was shifted with "pulling manoeuvres" that moved it 335ft from the bank.
Around 10 tugboats were helped by several diggers which vacuumed up sand underneath at high tide brought on by a "supermoon" – a full moon which provides higher tides due to its gravitational pull on the earth.
- John Hall
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST FOR A SHIP TO PASS THROUGH THE SUEZ CANAL?
The Suez Canal is one of the world’s most important routes, and it’s costing $400million per hour in delayed goods, Lloyd’s List reported.
The canal, which runs through Egypt, provides a vital shipping route that connects Europe to Asia.
Lloyd’s List, a London-based shipping-news journal, estimated the value of cargo goods passing through the canal every day at $9.7billion on average, with $5.1billion travelling west and $4.6billion travelling east.
The average number of vessels passing through the canal each day is 93 – which is why hundreds of ships are currently trapped around the stuck Ever Given.
Some 19,000 vessels passed through the canal last year, according to official figures.
- John Hall
EVER GIVEN REFLOATED AFTER SIX-DAY LONG BLOCK
The mega-ship longer than the Eiffel Tower blocking the Suez Canal has been refloated.
Footage posted on social media appeared to show the Ever Given had straightened after its stern had swung towards the canal bank enabling other ships to pass.
The 400m-long Ever Given became wedged in the shipping lane due to extreme weather conditions last Tuesday.
Inchcape, a maritime services firm, is one of several sources reporting that the boat had been freed at 4.30am local time.
News agency Reuters, citing shipping sources, said the cargo vessel was almost fully re-floated and had restarted its engines.
- John Hall
IKEA PRODUCTS ALSO CAUGHT IN SUEZ CANAL QUEUE
An Aladdin’s cave of goods ranging from IKEA furnishings to tens of thousands of livestock is stuck in a maritime traffic jam caused by the Suez Canal blockage.
Sweden’s IKEA said it has 110 containers on the stricken Ever Given and other ships in the pile-up.
“The blockage of the Suez Canal is an additional constraint to an already challenging and volatile situation for global supply chains brought on by the pandemic,” an IKEA spokesperson said.
The Van Rees Group, based in Rotterdam, said 80 containers of tea were trapped at sea on 15 vessels and said there could be “chaos” for the company as supplies dried up.
- John Hall
EVER GIVEN REFLOATED
Footage posted on social media appeared to show the monster cargo ship had straightened after its stern had swung towards the canal bank enabling other boats to pass.
Inchcape, a maritime services company, is one of several sources reporting that the boat had been freed at 4.30am local time.
Reuters, citing shipping sources, said the cargo vessel was almost fully re-floated and had restarted its engines.
Canal authorities said the Ever Given had been turned "80 per cent in the right direction" after the stern was shifted with "pulling manouevres" that moved it 335ft from the bank.
- John Hall
SPRING TIDE TO HELP EVER GIVEN?
One salvage expert has warned of possible structural problems on the Ever Given as it remains wedged in the Suez Canal.
The Ever Given, owned by the Japanese firm Shoei Kisen KK, got wedged in a single-lane stretch of the canal, about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez.
The Panama-flagged Ever Given smashed into the banks of the world-famous waterway last Tuesday, totally sealing off the key global trade route.
Salvagers' best chance may arrive today, Monday, March 29, when a spring tide will raise the canal's water level by up to 18 inches, analysts and shipping agents said.
- John Hall
FEARS FOR 130,000 ANIMALS ON SHIPS
Apart from goods, some 130,000 head of livestock on 11 ships sent from Romania have also been held up as a result of Ever Given's stranding.
"My greatest fear is that animals run out of food and water and they get stuck on the ships because they cannot be unloaded somewhere else for paperwork reasons," Gerit Weidinger, EU coordinator for NGO Animals International, told The Guardian.
Egypt has sent fodder and three teams of vets to examine livestock stuck at sea – some bound for Jordan.
Sweden's IKEA said it has 110 containers on the stricken Ever Given and other ships in the pile-up.
"The blockage of the Suez Canal is an additional constraint to an already challenging and volatile situation for global supply chains brought on by the pandemic," an IKEA spokesperson said.
- John Hall
SOIL EXPERTS SHIFT 27K CUBIC METRES OF SAND & MUD
Dredging has so far shifted at least 27,000 cubic metres of sand and mud from around the Ever Given.
A mass of rock was found at the bow of the ship, complicating salvage efforts.
On Sunday there was digging to remove the lining of the canal around the ship's front.
Soil experts are on site to advise on recovery efforts and a further dredger is expected to arrive by Tuesday March 30.
From the dredging done so far it's still unclear whether the ship is stuck on soft sand, compact sand or clay, which will determine how easily it may shift free, said one official involved in the salvage operation.
- John Hall
EVER GIVEN'S RUDDER NOW MOVING & PROPELLER WORKING
Officials say that some progress has been made in trying to free Ever Given.
"The rudder was not moving and it is now moving.
"The propeller is working now, there was no water underneath the bow, and now there is water under it, and yesterday there was a four-metre deviation in the bow and the stern," Suez Canal chairman Osama Rabie told Egyptian state TV.
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