Ship blocking Suez Canal pushed in the right direction, apparently undamaged

The massive container ship blocking the Suez Canal for the past week has been turned 80 percent in the right direction, officials said on Monday, raising hopes the vital trade route could soon be clear. Several middle eastern news sites have reported that the vessel is once again afloat.

The Japanese-owned MV Ever Given got stuck during a sandstorm last Tuesday. - Suez CANAL/AFP

The owner of the vessel said that while the giant ship "has turned", it was not yet afloat. Since that announcement, the Al Jazira TV service has reported that the high tide on Monday morning had been sufficient to re-float the container carrier.

The head of a Dutch salvage firm helping shift the ship has, however, warned that "the challenge is still ahead" despite some success in moving it, as the bow remains stuck. 

"The good news is that the stern is free but in our view that was the easier part. The challenge is still ahead, because you really have to slide the ship, with the weight it is carrying," Boskalis chief executive Peter Berdowski told Dutch public radio.

The MV Ever Given, longer than four football fields, has been wedged diagonally across the canal since Tuesday, strangling world supply chains and costing the global economy billions.

Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chief Osama Rabie said on Monday that rescue efforts with tugs had succeeded in shifting the front and back of the ship.

Greetings and appreciation to the Egyptian administration and the Suez Canal Authority for this work pic.twitter.com/dfS8AdDbmn

— مًحًـمًدٍ إبرآهّيَـمً Fathelbab (@IbrahemFthelbab) March 29, 2021

"The position of the ship has been reorientated 80 percent in the right direction," Rabie in a statement.

"The stern... moved to 102 metres (335 feet) from the shore," compared to its position four metres from the shore previously.

Efforts to refloat it will resume on the next high tide.

• Global freight chaos as Suez Canal remains blocked by giant tanker

The SCA statement said that the refloating process "will resume when water flow increases again from 11:30 local time... in order to completely refloat the vessel, so as to reposition it in the middle of the waterway."

According to the Vesselfinder and myshiptracking sites, the stern could be seen to have shifted from the canal's western bank.

No additional damage following salvage efforts   

An official from the 200,000-tonne ship's owners, Shoei Kisen, said while the Ever Given "has turned", it "is not afloat."

The ship had been "stuck at an angle of 30 degrees towards the canal, but that has eased," said the official.

"A total of 11 tug boats have been pulling Ever Given since this morning," they added, saying that while there was damage sustained by the ship on its bow when it got stuck, "but no new damage has been reported."

It is not yet clear when traffic along the canal will resume.

A canal official said that the team on the ground had started technical checks, and were reassured that the ship's motor was working.

Salvage crews have been working around the clock.

Global trade losses could be 12 billion euros every day   

The crisis has forced shipping companies to choose between waiting or rerouting vessels around Africa, which adds a huge fuel bill, 9,000 kilometres and over a week of travel to the trip between Asia and Europe.

Each day of the blockade is estimated to be costing global trade between seven and twelve billion euros, according to a study published Friday by German insurer Allianz.

Authorities said 369 ships are currently stalled as they wait for the canal to reopen.

In a sign of the knock-on effects, authorities in war-wracked Syria said the crisis had hit its fuel imports from Iran and forced it to ration already scarce supplies.

Romania's animal health agency said 11 ships carrying livestock out of the country were also impacted, while the charity Animals International warned of a potential "tragedy" affecting some 130,000 animals.