The ship ran aground and navigation on the Suez Canal – Telam resumed

The canal authorities, for their part, stressed that Egypt was losing between 12 and 14 million dollars per day of closure.

On Monday, engineers refloated the huge container ship that was blocking the Suez Canal for six days and navigation has resumed on this key sea route that connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, authorities reported.

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA), the Egyptian body that manages the runway, said the Ever Given vessel ran aground after arduous tasks, hours after engineers managed to partially refloat her.

“Admiral Oussama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, has proclaimed the resumption of navigation traffic on the canal,” the SCA said in a statement, according to the AFP news agency.

A total of 425 ships were trapped today on both sides and in the center of the channel that connects the Red Sea and the Mediterranean“

The progress of the operations augurs a rapid exit from the crisis which, since last Tuesday, caused millions of losses.

However, according to Royal Boskalis, the parent company of the Dutch company hired to help unlock the colossal ship, there was still the worst to be done.

“The good news is that the stern is clear, but this is what we consider the easiest part; the challenge remains the front-end,” CEO Peter Berdowsk told Dutch public radio hours before the start. ‘ad.

Previously, and after refloating the stern of the ship, Rabie had said it would take “about three and a half days” for all the waiting ships to pass through the channel once the Ever Given was dislocated.

The Ever Given – 400 meters long and 220,000 tonnes – got stuck diagonally last Tuesday in the canal and completely blocked this approximately 300-meter-wide waterway, which is one of the busiest in the world. .“

“The position of the ship was reoriented 80% in the right direction, “said the admiral, adding that” the stern of the ship was moving 102 meters from the shore, whereas before it was only four meters ”.

“The maneuvers to refloat will resume when the water level rises,” Rabie explained, adding that at that time the water level will rise enough “to completely refloat the vessel and put it back in the middle of the track” .

Shortly before, the Japanese shipping company Shoei Kisen, owner of the container ship, had confirmed that the Ever Given had “turned” but “was not yet floating”.

A total of 425 ships were trapped today on both sides and in the center of the channel that connects the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, according to the specialist magazine Lloyd’s List.

The Ever Given – 400 meters long and 220,000 tonnes – got stuck diagonally last Tuesday in the canal and completely blocked this approximately 300-meter-wide waterway which is one of the busiest in the world.

About 10% of international maritime trade flows through the Suez Canal and every day without activity involves significant delays and costs.

Some 27,000 cubic meters of sand had already been removed Sunday, to a depth of 18 meters, said SCA spokesman George Safwat.

The total value of goods blocked or having to take an alternative route differs according to estimates: from $ 3 billion a day according to Jonathan Owens, a logistics expert at the British University of Salford, to $ 9.6 billion according to Lloyd’s List.

The canal authorities, for their part, stressed that Egypt was losing between 12 and 14 million dollars per day of closure.

Although the incident was initially attributed to strong winds combined with a sandstorm, Rabie did not rule out on Saturday that “human error” was the cause.

Today, at dawn, the ship had started to move, after releasing its stern, immobilized on the west bank of the channel.

The maneuvers continued with the help of several tugs, until the vessel was again briefly stuck in the channel.

But shortly after 3:15 p.m. (10:15 a.m. in Argentina) the ship was released, the news was greeted by the siren sounds of the ships surrounding it, as it slowly began to sail north.

“I am pleased to report that our team of experts, working closely with the Canal Authority, brought Ever Given to life,” said Peter Berdowski, President of Royal Boskalis Westminster.

Boskalis said 30,000 cubic meters of sand had been dredged and 13 tugs had been deployed and the vessel was heading to an out-of-channel area for verification, he added.

Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al Sisi celebrated the success of the container ship unlocking operation.