display

Cairo (dpa) - A freighter ran aground in the Suez Canal on Wednesday night and has since blocked the important shipping route between Asia and Europe.

Several tug boats were initially in use around the freighter, as could be seen on the vesselfinder.com and marinetraffic.com radars.

Accordingly, congestion from container ships formed both north and south of the canal.

The incident occurred on Tuesday, said the shipping and logistics company GAC on its website.

There was a power failure on board the freighter.

display

According to the ship's radars, it is the freighter "Ever Given".

According to vesselfinder.com, it is 400 meters long and 59 meters wide.

The ship, built in 2018, is sailing under the Panamanian flag, it came from China and is on its way to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

It was initially unclear when the shipping route could be opened again.

A notification from the sewer authorities was initially not available.

The Suez Canal is a waterway that connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea.

It is therefore an important sea connection and trade route between Asia and Europe.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210324-99-946759 / 2

Map showing the location of the freighter