The container ship Ever Given was refloated on Monday March 29, announced Suez Canal Authority which confirms the resumption of traffic. The passage of the 422 waiting vessels should take a few days before a full return to normal.

 

 

 

Since Tuesday March 23, the container ship Ever Given (20,000 TEU, 400m long, 60m wide) was stuck in the Suez Canal, blocking all traffic. The various operations to dislodge the ship from the banks of the canal were successfully carried out. The ship was refloated on Monday March 29 at 3 p.m. local time and then directed to the waiting area of ​​Bitter Lakes for technical inspection, said Admiral Osama Rabie, chairman and CEO of SCA (Suez Canal Authority), during a press conference.

 

 

 

2-way navigation resumed at 6 p.m. local time. Now the challenge is to manage the passage of the 422 waiting ships. Crossing the canal takes 10 to 12 hours and before the accident the average number of vessels passing through was between 80 and 90 vessels per day. If the canal operates 24 hours a day, 2 convoys can pass successfully daily. It could take 3 to 4 days for all pending vessels to pass, according to SCA.

 

 

 

But the shipping company Maersk has issued a notice telling its customers that the delay would rather be 6 days or more, before a return to normal.

Ever Given put back afloat; the bow of the ship in the sand; the ship blocking the Suez Canal seen from space (Photos: SuezCanal.gov.eg/Twitter.Aurora Intel / AirbusSpace).