The 220,000 tonne and 400 meter long container ship MV Ever Given ran aground on Tuesday.
A photo published on Instagram taken by Julianne Cona, an American mechanical engineer on the neighboring ship Maersk Denver, shows that Ever Given is located almost across the canal.
Several attempts to free the ship have not yielded results. The ship will probably block the canal for “at least two days”, Egyptian authorities inform Cairo24.
According to the news website, it was an engine failure that caused the ship to come off course, ground support and now get stuck in the mud. A spokesman for the shipping company Evergreen Marine Corporation told the news agency AFP that the ship moved during sudden strong gusts of wind.
The ground support ship leads to traffic jams between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. according to Bloomberg News more than 100 ships are in a sailing queue.
Several tugboats are trying to free MV Ever Given, which is one of the largest container ships in the world. Excavators are also used on land, in an attempt to loosen the bow of the ship.
Uses excavators
The ship, which operates between Asia and Europe, is loaded with hundreds of containers and was on its way from China to Rotterdam, writes The Guardian.
The 150-year-old canal is still a very important trade route internationally. Around 19,000 ships sail through the canal annually, which corresponds to 10 percent of all maritime ship traffic.
In 2015, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi presented plans to expand the channel. The goal was to reduce the waiting time and increase capacity. The goal was that by 2023, twice as many ships would sail through the canal. So far, last year’s corona pandemic has put an end to enlargement.
Ever Given is registered in Panama, but is owned by the Taiwanese shipping company Evergreen Marine Corporation.
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