Cargo ship blocking Suez Canal has been refloated, says maritime services company

The giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal was refloated on Monday and is being secured, maritime services company Inchcape said in a Twitter post. But it remains unclear what the condition of the stranded ship is and when the canal would be open to traffic, with Inchcape saying that “more information will follow once they are known.” Efforts to free the mega vessel, known as the EverGreen, have lasted for nearly a week. The ship became stuck last Tuesday after running aground while entering the Suez canal from the Red Sea.

EverGreen is one of the largest container ships in the world. It is a 220,000-ton mega ship nearly a quarter-mile long with a 20,000 container capacity. The ship completely blocked the canal that’s home to as much as 12% of the world’s seaborne trade, and caused a traffic jam with hundreds of ships waiting to enter the Suez. Maritime data showed at least ten tankers and container ships changing course to avoid the logjam at the Suez Canal. Among them are at least two U.S. ships carrying natural gas for Cheniere and Shell/BG Group.

The crisis, now in its sixth day, has added to anxieties over the global supply chain which had already been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Each day of blockage disrupts more than $9 billion worth of goods, according to Lloyd’s List, which translates to about $400 million per hour.

Cargo ship blocking Suez Canal has been refloated, says maritime services company, CNBC, Mar 29