Our short international trade nightmare may be coming to a middle:
The stern of a huge container ship that has been wedged across the Suez Canal for almost a week has been freed from the shoreline, officials say.
The course of the 400m-long (1,300ft) Ever Given has been corrected by 80%, according to the Suez Canal Authority.
It added that further efforts to move the boat would resume later on Monday.
But the head of a company involved in the rescue efforts urged caution, warning that completing the operation would not be “a piece of cake”.
The Ever Given has been blocking one of the world’s busiest trade routes, forcing companies to reroute ships and causing long tailbacks of hundreds of vessels.
The reports that the ship had been partially freed raised hopes that traffic along the canal could resume within hours, clearing the way for an estimated $9.6bn (£7bn) of goods being held up each day.
But the bow is evidently still stuck:
You would think there would be good video somewhere of it being refloated, but I’m really not seeing any. Here’s some footage of the ongoing operations, and you can see the stern back in the channel:
Here’s a tweet with time-lapse partial animation:
#BREAKING | Ship-tracking service VesselFinder has changed Ever Given’s status to under way on its website. raising hopes the busy waterway will soon be reopened.#Egypt #Suez #SuezCanal #EVERGIVEN #Evergreen #BreakingNews|#قناة_السويس #السفينة_الجائحة #عاجل pic.twitter.com/lz5EuNM5Ty
— Egypt Today Magazine (@EgyptTodayMag) March 29, 2021
They’re now planning to use remove sand and clay from underneath the bow. If that fails to free the ship, they may need to start offloading containers.
Update: News agencies are reporting that the Ever Given has been freed and is moving:
It is with utmost pleasure that we can confirm that the #Suez Canal Authority and staff have succeeded in re-floating M/V EVER GIVEN. She is currently underway to Great Bitter Lake. More information will follow on our profile. M/V EVER GIVEN is no longer #grounded pic.twitter.com/jLjkeXAu4m
— Leth Agencies (@AgenciesLeth) March 29, 2021
Tags: Egypt, Ever Given, Suez Canal, trade, video