Tugs, Dredgers Still Struggle To Free Ship Blocking Suez Canal

Suez Canal salvage teams were alternating between dredging and tugging on Sunday to dislodge a massive container ship blocking the busy waterway, while two sources said efforts had been complicated by rock under the ship’s bow.

Dredgers working to dislodge the stranded vessel have so far shifted 27,000 cubic metres of sand, to a depth of 18 metres, and efforts would continue around the clock according to wind conditions and tides, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said in a statement.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has ordered preparations for the possible removal of some of the ship’s 18,300 containers, SCA Chairman Osama Rabie told Egypt’s Extra News.

Any operation to lighten the ship’s load would not start before Monday, an SCA source said.

The 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds more than five days ago, halting shipping traffic in one of the world’s busiest waterways.

At least 369 boats are waiting to transit the canal, Rabie said, including dozens of container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels.

Shippers affected by the blockage may be offered discounts, Rabie said, adding that he believed investigations would show the canal was not responsible for the Ever Given running aground.

Rescue workers from the SCA and a team from Dutch firm Smit Salvage have been weighing whether some cargo will need to be removed by crane in order to refloat the Ever Given, one of the world’s biggest container ships.

Experts have warned that such a process could be complex and lengthy. Rabie said he hoped it would not be necessary, but that Egypt would take up offers of international assistance if it did switch to that strategy.

‘POSITIVE INDICATORS’

“There are positive indicators from yesterday and the day before yesterday,” Rabie told Egyptian state TV.