On 23 March, the Ever Given, a huge container ship was knocked off-course by strong winds while on the Suez Canal. This has caused the 200,000 tonnes (200,000,000 kg) ship to be grounded and lodged sideways.
The ship is 400 metres long (as high as the Empire State Building and 52 metres shorter than KLCC), 59 metres wide and had completely blocked the world’s busiest waterway.
After six days of trying to free the ship, maritime services provider, Inchcape Shipping has confirmed in a tweet that the Ever Given had been refloated.
The MV Ever Given was successfully re-floated at 04:30 lt 29/03/2021. She is being secured at the moment. More information about next steps will follow once they are known. #suezcanel #maritime pic.twitter.com/f3iuYYiRRi
— Inchcape Shipping (@Inchcape_SS) March 29, 2021
Joyce Karam, a correspondent of The National (the UAE and Middle East’s premier news source) has tweeted a video of the moment the Ever Given was freed.
In the video, we can hear people celebrating and repeatedly shouting “Allahuakbar” which means “God is greater” in Arabic.
BREAKING : EVER GIVEN ship has been UNSTUCK & Moving into #Suez Canal after 6 Days!!
Egyptian crew managed to float it moments ago. It’s 5:42 am there: pic.twitter.com/GoMlYjQerL
— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) March 29, 2021
Bloomberg reported that the refloating operation involved ten tug boats and the breakthrough happened when diggers removed 27,000 cubic meters of sand.
Even though the ship is floating again, it is unclear how the Suez Canal authorities plan to proceed with the traffic as there are about 450 ships that are waiting to pass through.
The Suez Canal is accountable for 12% of global trade, according to BBC.
Also read: World’s Busiest Waterway, The Suez Canal Is Blocked By 400m-Long Container Ship
