CAIRO (Reuters) — The giant container ship that blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week was fully floated on Monday and traffic in the waterway would resume, the canal authority said in a statement.
A Reuters witness saw the ship moving and a shipping tracker and Egyptian TV showed it positioned in the center of the canal.
The Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds early on Tuesday, halting shipping traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.
At least 369 vessels were waiting to transit the canal, including dozens of container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers and liquefied natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas vessels, SCA Chairman Osama Rabie told Egypt’s Extra News on Sunday.
Earlier on Monday, marine services firm Inchcape Shipping Services said the ship had been successfully re-floated at 4.30 am local time (0230 GMT) and was being secured.
The Suez Canal salvage teams intensified excavation and dredging on Sunday and were hoping a high tide would help them dislodge the ship.
Crude oil prices fell after news the ship had been re-floated, with Brent crude down by $1 per barrel to $63.67. Shares of Taiwan-listed Evergreen Marine Corp — the vessel’s lessor — rose 3.3%.
About 15% of world shipping traffic transits the Suez Canal, which is a key source of foreign currency revenue for Egypt. The current stoppage is costing the canal $14-$15 million a day.
Shipping rates for oil product tankers nearly doubled after the ship became stranded, and the blockage has disrupted global supply chains, threatening costly delays for companies already dealing with Covid-19 restrictions.
Some shippers had decided to reroute their cargoes around the Cape of Good Hope, adding about two weeks to journeys and extra fuel costs.
A note from A.P. Moeller Maersk seen by Reuters said it had so far redirected 15 vessels around the Cape after calculating that the journey would be equal to the current delay of sailing to Suez and queuing.
The SCA has said it can accelerate convoys through the canal once the Ever Given is freed.
Stranded ship Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container ships, is seen after it ran aground, in Suez Canal, Egypt on March 28, 2021.
Suez Canal Authority/Handout via REUTERS
