Illustration of the Suez Canal.
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NEW CHINA / SIPA
Big traffic jam in the Suez Canal, after a giant container ship ran aground there.
A photo released Tuesday shows the MV Ever Given, a Taiwanese ship 400 meters long and 59 meters wide, crossing the canal in Egypt and preventing all traffic.
The ship "accidentally ran aground, probably after being hit by a gust of wind," Evergreen Marine Corp said on Wednesday.
Tugs "trying to get the ship afloat"
The company "is in discussions with the parties concerned, including the Authority which manages the canal, to assist the boat as soon as possible," she said.
"Tugs are currently trying to get the ship afloat," Leth Agencies, a firm that provides services to customers who use the channel, told Twitter.
100 stranded vessels
The Bloomberg agency said that following the incident, more than 100 ships were waiting to be able to pass through the Suez Canal.
Instagram user Julianne Cona posted a photo of the giant container ship from Maersk Denver, stranded behind Ever Given.
“A ship in front of us ran aground as it was crossing the canal and it is now stranded across,” she wrote.
"It looks like we could be here for a little while."
According to maritime surveillance site Vessel Finder, the ship was on its way to Rotterdam.
Egyptian authorities have yet to comment on the incident.
Inaugurated in 1869, the Suez Canal ensures the passage of 10% of international maritime trade.
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