Ships stranded in the Suez Canal will restart their journeys after the Ever Given anchors in the Great Bitter Lake, a Suez Canal Official told CNN on Monday.
“As soon as the ship reaches the waiting place in the Bitter Lakes…the 43 ships waiting in the Bitter Lakes will begin to move south towards the Gulf of Suez,” the source said.
The ships will be traveling in convoys northbound and southbound of the Suez Canal, as the Ever Given stands by for inspections.
The average number of ships that transited through the canal on a daily basis before the accident was between 80 to 90 ships, according to Lloyds List; however, the head of the Suez Canal Authority said that the channel will work 24 hours to facilitate the passage of almost 400 ships carrying billions of dollars in freight.
The journey to cross the canal takes 10 to 12 hours, and in the event the channel operates for 24 hours, two convoys per day will be able to successfully pass.
Still, shipping giant, Maersk issued an advisory telling customers it could take “6 days or more” for the queue created by the Suez Canal blockage to clear. The company said that was an estimate and subject to change as more vessels reach the blockage or are diverted.1 hr 22 min ago
Here’s a bird’s-eye view of the ship in the Suez Canal
From CNN’s Paul P. Murphy
Satellite images from Maxar Technologies shows the Ever Given, the container ship that has been stuck in the Suez Canal, moving away from the eastern bank of the canal.
“As you will see in the imagery, the container ship has been moved away from the eastern bank of the canal and numerous tugboats are actively involved in trying to reposition the ship,” Maxar’s Stephen Wood said in a statement to CNN.
Earlier today, a Suez Canal Authority spokesperson told CNN the ship blocking the Suez Canal had been fully dislodged.
Suez ship will be repositioned to the Great Bitter Lake for inspection
2 hr 40 min ago
CNN’s Beijing bureau
The chartered Ever Given vessel will be repositioned to the Great Bitter Lake in the Suez Canal for an inspection of its seaworthiness, the charter company, Evergreen, said.
The container ship is currently moving to allow the normal resumption of traffic in the Suez Canal, the statement said.
“The outcome of that inspection will determine whether the ship can resume its scheduled service. Once the inspection is finalized, decisions will be made regarding arrangements for cargo currently on board,” Evergreen added.
The ship was refloated at 9 a.m. ET – 3 p.m. Egypt Standard Time – according to Evergreen.
“Evergreen will coordinate with the shipowner to deal with subsequent matters after the shipowner and other concerned parties complete investigation reports into the incident,” the statement added.3 hr 8 min ago
“We pulled it off!” Company that helped free Suez ship says
From CNN’s Rob North, Mick Krever and Mostafa Salem
The salvage company which helped in the efforts to free a ship blocking the Suez Canal said in a statement, “We pulled it off!”
“Boskalis announces the successful salvage operation of the grounded 20,000 TEU container vessel Ever Given in the Suez Canal. 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 23 March, 2021 blocking all shipping traffic ever since.”
Videos show the ship floating in the Suez Canal after the bow was freed following intense tugging efforts Monday morning.
The ship is currently being tugged toward the Great Bitter Lake where it will park for inspections and an investigation, the head of the Suez Canal Authority Osama Rabie said, according to state-run Al Ahram newspaper.
Marine traffic showed the ship moving at a speed of 1.5 knots north toward the Great Bitter Lake. 3 hr ago
The ship has been fully dislodged and is currently floating, Suez Canal Authority says
From CNN’s Magdy Samaan, Mick Krever, Ben Wedeman and Mostafa Salem
The ship blocking the Suez Canal has been fully dislodged on Monday afternoon, a Suez Canal Authority spokesperson told CNN.
Tugs were working to free the bow of the ship after dislodging the stern Monday morning.
Marine traffic websites showed images of the ship away from the banks of the Suez Canal for the first time in seven days.“Yes!” said the salvage company Boskalis spokesperson Martijn Schuttevaer when asked by CNN if the bow was free.
Egypt state TV showed the ship fully floating. 4 hr 10 min ago
Authorities have temporarily suspended efforts to free front of container ship as high tide fades
From CNN’s Mostafa Salem, Mick Krever and Lina El Wardani
Authorities have temporarily suspended efforts to free the front of the Ever Given container ship as the window for high tide faded on Monday afternoon, Egyptian local media said.
A live shot on state media showed tug boats pulling the ship in an attempt to free the front or bow, which is still stuck “rock solid” as per the description of the CEO of a salvage company working to free the ship, Peter Berdowski.
The efforts to pull the ship out will resume later in the day, a reporter said on a local media newscast.
Despite the delay in fully dislodging the ship, Egypt’s President issued a statement Monday saying “Egyptians have successfully managed to end the crisis of the stranded ship.”
“[Egyptians] were able to get things back on track,” he said in a presidential statement on Facebook.
Dozens of ships that planned to travel through the Suez Canal are instead rerouting to the Cape of Good Hope around Africa, adding 8 days of sailing time and expending an additional 500 tons or so of fuel, Lloyds List Intelligence said.
However, more than 350 ships carrying billions of dollars’ worth of freight still await transit through the canal.
It could take days for the backlogged ships to successfully transit, but the head of the Suez Canal Authority said in an interview with Sky News Arabia that “they will work 24 hours” a day to allow the vessels to transit.
The maximum passages per day on average through the Suez Canal for the past three months were 80 to 90 vessels, as per data from Lloyds List.
