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CAIRO:Billions of dollars worth of global cargo began moving again on Monday after a giant container ship that had blocked the Suez Canal for a week was refloated.
“She’s free!” one of the Dutch salvage operators said, and tugboat crews sounded their foghorns in celebration as the ship began moving north at a sedate 1.5 knots toward the Great Bitter Lake, where it will be inspected for damage.
The 400-meter MV Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal early last Tuesday, halting traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia and denying Egypt up to $14 million a day in vital revenue.
Earth diggers, dredgers and powerful tugboats operated non-stop to dislodge the vessel from the rocky sand and clay on the canal banks.
It had been a day of drama, as hope alternated with despair. After dredging and excavation work on Sunday, and helped by a four-meter high lunar tide, workers from the Suez Canal Authority and a team from the Dutch company Smit Salvage partially refloated the ship early on Monday.
However, celebrations were premature. The vessel’s stern swivelled 100 meters into open water, but the bow remained wedged in the canal bank. It was not until late on Monday afternoon that tugs pulled the ship completely clear, into open water.
Smit Salvage said about 30,000 cubic meters of sand was dredged to refloat the 224,000-ton ship, and 11 tugs and two powerful sea tugs were used to pull the vessel free.
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi declared victory. “Today, Egyptians have been successful in putting an end to the crisis of the stranded ship in the Suez Canal, despite the enormous complexity surrounding the process,” he said.
In the small canal-side village of Manchiyet Al-Rougoula, residents watched as the ship began to move. A father and his family climbed to the roof of their red-brick house to get a better view as the vessel, with at least nine levels of containers, slowly passed by.
“We are happy to see the boat move, thank God,” said one resident.
At least 425 cargo vessels have been waiting to transit the canal, including dozens of container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels.
Canal authority chief Adm. Osama Rabie said it would accelerate convoys through the canal now that the Ever Given was freed. “We will not waste one second,” he said.
A canal source said more than 100 ships would be able to enter the channel daily, but it could take up to three days to clear the backlog. Shipping group Maersk said the knock-on disruptions to global shipping could take weeks or months to unravel.
Maritime data company Lloyd’s List said the blockage had held up an estimated $9.6 billion worth of cargo each day between Asia and Europe.