The photos of the titanic work in progress for …

The tugs and dredges are doing everything to unload the container ship whose Suez Canal it blocked for four days. The task is extremely complex given the ship is the size of a skyscraper and it is not known whether it will take days or weeks to reopen this key trade route between Europe and Asia.

The incident, on Tuesday, caused serious traffic jams, with dozens of ships stranded at both ends and in the waiting area in the middle of the canal. It also resulted in long delays in deliveries of petroleum and other commercial products.

The stranded ship is the Ever Given. It is a vessel of over 220,000 tonnes and 400 meters long.

Since Wednesday, the Egyptian Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has been trying to unblock it. “Tugs and dredges are used to break the rocks” and try to free the boat, explained an official of the Japanese company Shoei Kisen Kaisha, owner of the boat.

According to the SCA, between 15,000 and 20,000 cubic meters of sand will have to be removed to reach a depth of between 12 and 16 meters and be able to float the colossal container ship.

Mohab Mamish, adviser to Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al Sisi on port issues, estimated Thursday that navigation would resume “in 48 to 72 hours at most”. “I have experience in various rescue operations of this type and, as the former chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, I know every square inch of the canal,” added Mamish, who oversaw the canal. recent widening of this busy seaway, linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.

However, the work to be done is arduous and not everyone agrees with the Egyptian official. For example, the Dutch company Smit Salvage warned that the operation could take “days or even weeks”.

The company that operates the ship, Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine Corp, tasked Smit Salvage and the Japanese company Nippon Salvage with creating a “more efficient plan” to get the ship out. The first experts arrived at the Suez Canal on Thursday. Smit Salvage has participated in large rescue operations, such as the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk and the Italian cruiser Costa Concordia.

A maritime link between Europe and Asia inaugurated in 1869, this narrow artificial route made it possible for ships not to have to go around the African continent, but it also suffered from the weight of several wars and years of inactivity.

An incident like the one that occurred has consequences because 10% of international maritime trade passes through this waterway, according to experts. Nearly 19,000 ships used the Suez Canal last year, according to the SCA.

Ever Given was heading for Rotterdam, the Netherlands, from Asia. On Tuesday evening, it ran aground and was stranded in the southern part of the Suez Canal.

Experts cite high winds as one of the causes of the 60-meter-high vessel incident. The SCA also reported on a sandstorm, a common occurrence in Egypt at this time of year, which reduced visibility and caused the vessel to drift.