The stranded container ship blocking the Suez Canal for nearly a week has been freed and is on the move, allowing maritime traffic in one of the world's most important waterways to finally resume.
Other vessels are travelling again following the refloating of the gigantic Ever Given ship, which had been jammed diagonally across a southern section.
Helped by a high tide, a flotilla of tug boats today managed to wrench the ship's bow from the canal's sandy bank in Egypt.
It had been firmly lodged there since high winds last Tuesday, halting traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.
The 400m (1,312ft) long Ever Given, which is carrying 20,000 containers, is now being pulled by a salvage team to the Great Bitter Lake - a wide stretch of water halfway between the north and south end of the canal, where the ship will have a full technical inspection.
"She's free," said an official involved in the operation.
Live footage on a local television station showed the 224,000-tonne ship surrounded by tugs moving slowly in the centre of the canal, reportedly at a speed of 1.5 knots.
Evergreen Line, which leases the ship, said the outcome of the inspection will determine whether it can resume its scheduled service.
It added that following the inspection, decisions will be made about the arrangements for the cargo on board.
The company that manages the vessel, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, said: "There have been no reports of pollution or cargo damage and initial investigations rule out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the grounding."
Osama Rabei, the head of the Suez Canal Authority, said it could take up to three days to clear the backlog in one of the globe's most vital maritime trade arteries.
At least 369 vessels are waiting to transit the canal, including dozens of container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels.
Efforts to get the ship moving again appeared to have been frustrated after high winds swung it back across the channel after its partial refloating earlier on Monday.
There had been intensive efforts to push and pull it with 11 tug boats and two powerful sea tugs used, and about 30,000 cubic metres of sand was dredged - to a depth of 18m (59ft).
Mr Rabei confirmed the skyscraper-sized ship had responded successfully to "pull-and-push manoeuvres".
:: Before the Ever Given became stuck, ships moved freely through the canal. The graphic below shows movement along a number of routes into and out of Port Said in the north, in the Mediterranean Sea. On the 23 March, to the south in the Gulf of Suez, the yellow dot of the Ever Given appears as it moves into the canal and then gets stuck. Most ships remain at either end - but several remain halfway, in the Great Bitter Lake.
The oil price fell on Monday as news of developments in the canal emerged, with the price of Brent crude down by 2% to just over $63 (£46) a barrel.
It had been feared the Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned ship might have been stuck for weeks.
On Saturday, Mr Rabei said strong winds were "not the only cause" for the Ever Given running aground. He said an investigation was ongoing but did not rule out human or technical error.
After the ship became stuck six days ago, the resulting disruption to the vital waterway held up £6.5bn in global trade each day.
Hundreds of other vessels had remained trapped in the canal waiting to pass, carrying everything from crude oil to cattle.
More than two dozen vessels opted for the alternative route between Asia and Europe around the Cape of Good Hope, adding around a fortnight to journeys and threatening delivery delays.
Usually, about 15% of world shipping traffic transits the Suez Canal, which is an important source of foreign currency revenue for Egypt.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiaWh0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5L3N1ZXotY2FuYWwtdHJhZmZpYy1maW5hbGx5LW1vdmluZy1hZ2Fpbi1hZnRlci1zdHJhbmRlZC1zaGlwLXJlZmxvYXRlZC0xMjI2MDE2NNIBbWh0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5L2FtcC9zdWV6LWNhbmFsLXRyYWZmaWMtZmluYWxseS1tb3ZpbmctYWdhaW4tYWZ0ZXItc3RyYW5kZWQtc2hpcC1yZWZsb2F0ZWQtMTIyNjAxNjQ?oc=5
2021-03-29 15:11:15Z
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