Stuck for more than two days

A giant container ship stops navigation in the Suez Canal

A giant stranded container ship stopped shipping in the Suez Canal today, which had repercussions on global trade, as officials prevented ships from entering the waterway and a rescue company expected that the ship's liberation would take weeks.

The "Ever Geffen" ship now impedes navigation in both directions in the channel linking Asia and Europe, and is one of the busiest shipping lanes for goods, oil, grains and other products in the world.

Today, the Suez Canal Authority said that it temporarily stopped navigation in the canal, while yesterday, for the third day, efforts to float the ship continued and eight tug boats are working to adjust its position, after it was suspended accidentally in the southern part, which allows passage in one direction of the canal, morning. On Tuesday, due to strong winds and a dust storm.

Ship stranding

The authority added in a statement, “The ship’s delinquency is mainly due to the lack of visibility resulting from bad weather conditions, given that the country is passing through a dust storm.

This led to the loss of the ability to steer the ship and then to its stranding.

"It is too early to determine how long the mission might take," said Peter Berdowski, chief executive of the Dutch company, Boscalis, which is trying to float the ship.

"We cannot rule out that the matter will take weeks, depending on the situation," Berdowski told a Dutch television program.

"The bow and stern of the ship have been raised on both sides of the canal," Berdowski added.

A huge whale

and continued: «It 's

like a

huge whale stranding on the

beach.

It is an enormous weight in the sand.

"We may have to combine (in our mission) to reduce weight by transporting containers, oil and water from the ship in addition to the tugboats and the dredging of sand."

Dozens of ships, including other large container ships, oil and gas tankers and ships transporting grain, are gathering at both ends of the canal, creating one of the worst shipping bottlenecks in years.

The Suez Canal Authority had allowed some ships to enter the canal in the hope of liberating the ship, but it has now temporarily halted navigation traffic today.

Rescue operations

The Suez Canal Authority said in a statement: “The current rescue operations are carried out through the Authority’s Movement Department and by 8 locomotives, most notably the locomotive (Barakah 1) with a tensile strength of 160 tons. Channel ».

The authority added: “The navigation movement in the canal witnessed yesterday the crossing of 13 ships from Port Said, within the northern convoy, and it was intended to complete its march in the canal, but as the ship’s floatation works continued, it was necessary to move according to the alternative scenario by waiting in the Great Lakes region until the resumption of movement Navigation completely after floating the ship, God willing. ”

About 30% of the world's container traffic passes daily through the Suez Canal, which is 193 km long, and about 12% of the total world trade for all goods.

Shipping experts say that if the congestion in the navigation traffic in the canal does not resolve within 24 to 48 hours, some shipping companies may be forced to divert their ships to the Cape of Good Hope around southern Africa, which extends the journey by nearly a week.

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