The Ever Given was re-floated on Monday and the Suez Canal reopened to traffic, nearly a week after the mega-ship jammed, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said as local television footage showed it crawling through the channel.
“Admiral Osama Rabie, head of the Suez Canal Authority, announced the resumption of maritime traffic on the Suez Canal,” the SCA said in a statement, shortly after transport sites showed they had once again blocked the waterway diagonally.
The progress of operations this Monday morning augured a quick exit from the crisis, which was causing millions in losses.
The Ever Given – 400 meters long and 220,000 tons – was stuck diagonally since Tuesday in the canal and completely blocked this 300-meter-wide waterway that is one of the busiest in the world.
Numerous trailers and dredgers to suck the sand under the ship were mobilized in the rescue operations.
It is with utmost pleasure that we can confirm that the #Suez Canal Authority and staff have succeeded in re-floating M/V EVER GIVEN. She is currently underway to Great Bitter Lake. More information will follow on our profile. M/V EVER GIVEN is no longer #grounded pic.twitter.com/jLjkeXAu4m
— Leth (@AgenciesLeth) March 29, 2021
The Dutch tug Alp Guard arrived in the early hours of Sunday night and the Italian Carlo Magno on Monday morning, according to the maritime traffic display websites.
By Sunday morning, some 27,000 cubic meters of sand had already been removed, at a depth of 18 meters.
Earlier, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Al Sisi did not wait for the ship to be fully released to congratulate himself on the operation.
“Today, the Egyptians managed to end the crisis of the ship stranded in the Suez Canal, despite the great technical complexity of the process,” the president tweeted on Monday.
