"Any possible assistance": Russia is ready to assist Egypt in restoring the operation of the Suez Canal

Moscow is ready to provide Cairo with all possible assistance in resolving the situation that arose in the Suez Canal, where a container ship ran aground, blocking the movement of merchant ships.

This was stated by the Russian ambassador to Egypt Georgy Borisenko.

At the same time, the diplomat indicated that at the moment there were no official requests for help.

“We hope that this problem will be overcome in the very near future, that the channel's work will be restored, and, naturally, we are ready to provide our Egyptian friends with any possible assistance from our side,” RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

As Borisenko noted, in Russia "they very much empathize with what is happening in the Suez Canal, since for the whole world it is an" important waterway ".

Recall that on March 23, one of the world's largest container ships - Ever Given - ran aground, blocking the traffic in the Suez Canal.

The vessel with a displacement of 220 thousand tons and a length of 400 m rested against one coast with its bow and the other with its stern.

The incident occurred during a sandstorm that hit Egypt. 

Russian cosmonaut Sergei Kud-Sverchkov photographed a container ship belonging to the Evergreen Marine Corporation from the ISS.

One of the most talked about news of the past few days: the Suez Canal incident.

The huge container ship #EverGiven ran aground and blocked the canal.

Every effort is now being made to get the ship aground and to restore shipping.

This is how it looks from the ISS pic.twitter.com/ch7Gs6Mw8H

- Sergey Kud-Sverchkov (@KudSverchkov) March 27, 2021

As noted by the vessel monitoring service Lloyd's List Intelligence, more than 50 vessels with cargo worth $ 9.6 billion passed through the channel connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Seas per day. the channel can "break the backbone" of world trade.

So, direct losses due to this situation could amount to $ 230 billion.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Oil and Natural Resources of Syria imposed restrictions on the consumption of petroleum products in the republic due to the incident.

“Given that it will take some time to resume shipping along the canal, the Syrian government has taken measures to ensure the smooth operation of vital facilities, including water stations, communications, bakeries and hospitals,” the statement said.

On the night of March 28, an attempt was made to ground the container ship, but it was unsuccessful.

This was announced by a RIA Novosti source in the administration of the Suez Canal.

At the same time, according to the Taiwanese company Evergreen Marine Corporation, which owns the ship Ever Given, at 15:00 Moscow time, another attempt began.

Its results at the time of publication of the material are unknown.

The press service of the company notes that during the dredging work, more than 20 thousand tons of sand and silt were removed, which made it possible to partially free the bow and stern of the container ship.

In addition, it is emphasized that the rudder and propeller of the vessel are "fully functional" and will provide additional support for the tugs.

At the same time, RIA Novosti reports that from the coast of the Red Sea in the area between the cities of Ain Sokhna and Zaafaran, about 65 km from the southern entrance to the Suez Canal, a traffic jam of cargo ships is visible.

According to the head of the canal administration, Osama Rabia, 369 vessels, including 25 oil tankers, are awaiting passage through the waterway connecting the Red and Mediterranean Seas.

This was reported by Al-Arabiya TV channel.

In addition, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has ordered preparations to begin to lighten the container ship Ever Given.

“We are preparing for the third scenario - reducing the cargo on the ship.

The third scenario is very difficult and will take a long time, ”said Rabia.

In addition, Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali proposed using the North-South international transport corridor as an alternative to the Suez Canal in the future, IRNA reports.

According to the diplomat, when using this route, the delivery of goods will take 20 days less, and the costs will decrease by 30%.

Jalali added that the MTK from St. Petersburg to the port of Mumbai with a total length of 7,200 km has a "low level of risk."

Also on russian.rt.com Ship jam: one of the largest container ships ran aground in the Suez Canal

The incident in the Suez Canal is likely to have a positive impact on the increase in the share of rail freight traffic.

This opinion was expressed by the chairman of the joint scientific council of the Russian Railways, professor Boris Lapidus.

According to him, this situation is developing "into an economic catastrophe."

“Our proposals are known to the carriers, and after the incident they will be more attentive to the possibility of switching over time-sensitive cargo to the Trans-Siberian Railway,” TASS quoted him as saying.