Suez Canal ship freed Everything you need to know about the Ever Given drama

After nearly six days lodged aground in the Suez Canal, the cargo ship Ever Given was finally freed Monday, according to CNBC and ship tracker Vessel Finder. Traffic in the waterway can now resume, the canal authority told Reuters.

The Suez Canal is one of the world's most important waterways. Located 75 miles east of Cairo, the capital of Egypt, it links the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, allowing for direct shipping from Europe to Asia. Roughly 12% of the world's shipping traffic and a chunk of its oil supply goes through the manmade canal, which has become particularly vital following pandemic-related disruptions to shipping. 

Egyptian TV footage showed the ship aligned in a straight position along the canal, as previoIt's a big deal that the 1,312-foot-long Ever Given was blocking the Suez Canal for nearly a week. With the canal's cargo traffic at a standstill, that meant delays in everything from oil to food to clothing to semiconductors.

But on Sunday night (Monday morning Egypt time), a breakthrough took place

usly reported by the BBC.The Ever Given was lodged firmly in the embankments on each side of the Suez Canal. After six days of rigorous efforts, the ship was refloated Sunday, according to shipping services company Inchcape, and fully freed Monday.

"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," the company tweeted.

The Suez Canal Authority didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The vessel's refloating came after two additional tugboats were deployed Sunday, as reported by the Associated Press, to help a fleet of around 10 similar boats laboring to extract the 200,000-ton Ever Given. The Suez Canal Authority over the weekend also deployed more onland heavy machinery to dig around the ship's bow, which would make it easier for the vessel to be pulled out.

Authorities had been working to extract the vessel for nearly a week. Experts said a couple of days of delay would be a major inconvenience for shipping companies, but that a week or more could prove catastrophic, and not just for shipping companies. Local authorities had been working since Tuesday to extract the 200,000-ton Ever Given ship.

 

If the ship were to remain stuck for another week it could cause massive delays in the delivery of products, and every second of delay leaves billions of dollars' worth of disruptions on the line, Jennifer Bisceglie, CEO of supply chain risk management firm Interos, told CNET on Friday.

Peter Berdowski, CEO of Boskalis, the company leading the rescue effort, cautioned on Thursday that the Ever Given being stuck for weeks was a very real possibility.

"We can't exclude it might take weeks, depending on the situation," Berdowski told the Dutch television program Nieuwsuur. "It is like an enormous beached whale. It's an enormous weight on the sand."

Shoei Kisen Kaisha, the company that owns the Ever Given, released a statement Thursday apologizing for the issue.Meanwhile, the US government offered assistance to the Suez Canal Authority.

"In connection with the ongoing efforts to dislodge the container ship that ran aground during its passage through the Suez Canal, the Suez Canal Authority values the offer of the United States of America to contribute to these efforts," the SCA said in a statement Friday, "and looks forward to cooperating with the US in this regard in appreciation of this good initiative which confirms the friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries."

 

The Ever Given was lodged firmly in the embankments on each side of the Suez Canal. After six days of rigorous efforts, the ship was refloated Sunday, according to shipping services company Inchcape, and fully freed Monday.

"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," the company tweeted.The Suez Canal Authority didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The vessel's refloating came after two additional tugboats were deployed Sunday, as reported by the Associated Press, to help a fleet of around 10 similar boats laboring to extract the 200,000-ton Ever Given. The Suez Canal Authority over the weekend also deployed more onland heavy machinery to dig around the ship's bow, which would make it easier for the vessel to be pulled out.

Authorities had been working to extract the vessel for nearly a week. Experts said a couple of days of delay would be a major inconvenience for shipping companies, but that a week or more could prove catastrophic, and not just for shipping companies.