Suez Canal Ship Dislodged

Traffic is flowing again as the stranded container ship blocking Egypt’s Suez Canal Ships dislodged by salvage crews, a week after initially getting stuck.

Peter Berdowski (CEO of Dutch salvage company Boskalis) confirmed the Suez Canal Ship Dislodged, the Ever Given had been refloated at 15:05 (13:05 GMT) on Monday, “thereby making free passage through the Suez Canal possible again”.

Despite only taking a predicted three days to clear the waiting ships. However, experts warn the delay on global shipping could take weeks or even months to resolve.

How was the Suez Canal Ship Dislodged?

A Dutch specialist team, SMIT, oversaw a flotilla of 13 tugs, small but powerful vessels that can shift large ships, as they tried to dislodge the Ever Given.

Dredgers were brought in and dug 30,000 cubic metres of mud and sand from beneath the ends of the ship.

Over the weekend, it was feared that some of the ship’s cargo of some 18,000 containers would have to be removed in order to lighten the load.

But high tides helped the tugs and dredgers in their work. Early on Monday, the rear of the ship was dislodged and the great ship swung across the canal. Hours later, the front came unstuck, and the Ever Given was able to move.

The vessel was towed to the Great Bitter Lake where it will undergo safety checks.

What happens after the Suez Canal Ship is Dislodged?

A marine source told Reuters news agency on Monday evening that ships were travelling southwards towards the Red Sea. Whilst Canal services provider Leth Agencies said vessels had resumed transit from the Great Bitter Lake.

Some ships have already left the region, taking a longer route around the southern tip of Africa.

Inevitably, cargoes will be reaching their destination much later than planned. There may be congestion when they arrive in port. Future schedules will also be thrown into disarray.

The cost of shipping goods to Europe is expected to rise as a result, BBC Business Correspondent Theo Leggett reports

Shipping group Maersk said the “ripple effects on global capacity and equipment” were significant.

“There’ll be an investigation, clearly, because this has had such a big impact and exactly what’s happened here, I think, will be debated for some time,” Marcus Baker, global head of marine and cargo at Marsh Inc, told Reuters.

“What do we do going forward to ensure it doesn’t happen again? Again, I would leave that to the competent authorities that are in Egypt to decide how they want to make sure that traffic transits safely through the canal because, look, it’s in their interest to do that.”

A strong sense of achievement

By Sally Nabil, BBC Arabic bilingual correspondent, Port of Suez

Spirits here are quite high. There’s a strong sense of achievement. Some experts had warned that it might take weeks to free the Ever Given. But the high tide, as well as the specialist equipment brought in, all helped the rescue operation.

Now the authorities will have to address another challenge – congestion. The head of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said that hundreds of stranded vessels would be allowed through the canal on a first-come-first-served basis. There might be some exceptions to specific ships, based on the types of goods on board.

The blockage put the authorities under immense pressure, given the major impact it had on global trade. The canal is not only a source of national pride, but also provides the economy with much needed foreign currency.

I asked Osama Rabie, the head of the SCA, whether he was concerned that some shipping companies might be discouraged from sending such giant ships through the canal in the future. He replied that there was no alternative to the Suez Canal, which he said was fast and safe. It’s not just about time here, but also about security.

What happens to the ship now?

It will now undergo a full inspection at the Great Bitter Lake, the vessel’s technical managers, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, said.

It said there had been no reports of pollution or cargo damage. Investigations had ruled out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the grounding last week.

The ship’s Indian crew of 25 remaining aboard the vessel are safe and in good health, BSM said, adding: “Their hard work and tireless professionalism are greatly appreciated.”

The ship’s containers are carrying a huge variety of items and the insured value of the cargo is believed to amount to hundreds of millions of dollars.

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