Suez Canal blockade: From stuck to sailing, how the 'Ever Given' broke free

A week after lsquoEver Givenrsquo brought global trade to a standstill the giant container ship was finally dislodged from the banks of Suez Canal on Monday and set afloat The vesselrsquos release brought relief to the shipping industry as a whole From being stuck to set adrift herersquos how the events unfoldedMarch 23 Getting lsquodiagonallyrsquo stuck in Suez CanalA satellite image shows the Ever Given being wedged diagonally across the span of the canalOn Tuesday March 23 the Ever Given a 200000tonne Panamaflagged ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe ran aground in the southern mouth of the Suez CanalSuez is a narrow manmade canal which divides continental Africa from Sinai PeninsulaDue to the ship running aground it blocked other vessels in transit The shiprsquos bow was touching the canals eastern wall while its stern looked lodged against its western wall according to satellite data from MarineTraffic which provides realtime information on the movement of shipsMarch 24 A traffic jam of shipsAn aerial view taken on March 27 2021 from the porthole of a commercial plane shows stranded ships waiting in queue in the Gulf of Suez to cross the Suez CanalOn Wednesday cargo ships and oil tankers started lining up at the southern end of the canal waiting to be able to pass to the Mediterranean SeaAround 100 vessels seeking transit between Red Sea and the Mediterranean had piled up reported Bloomberg Taiwanbased Evergreen Line the time charterer of the vessel said in an emailed response to the news agencys questions that the ship ldquowas grounded accidentally after deviating from its course due to suspected sudden strong windrdquoAs many as 10 tug boats struggled to free the ship but the Canal still remained blockedMarch 25 Egypt suspends all traffic in the CanalJapanese shipleasing firm Shoei Kisen Kaisha which owns the ship said that it was facing extreme difficulty trying to set it afloat In a statement on its website the firm apologised for causing a great deal of worry to ships in the Suez Canal and those planning to go through the canalEgypt then suspended all traffic through the Canal At least 150 other vessels needing to pass through the waterway idled waiting for the obstruction to clear authorities saidDredgers tried to clear silt around the massive ship Tug boats nudged the vessel alongside it trying to gain momentum Finally container carriers and vessels started taking the costly and timeconsuming voyage around Africa insteadMarch 26 The jam grows White House raises alarmThe US government offered Egypt assistance in removing the grounded ship after sensing potential impacts on energy markets Almost 300 vessels were reported to have queued up compared to 238 on ThursdaySeveral ships in the Indian Ocean initially bound for the Suez Canal took a detour The ships Japanese owner said that it aimed to refloat the ship on Saturday night Tokyo timeMarch 27 Tidal movement to free shipA handout picture released by the Suez Canal Authority shows tugboats pulling the Panamaflagged MV Ever GivenWith previous attempts failing to produce results a plan is made to free the vessel by taking advantage of tidal movements late on Saturday At a news conference Shoei Kisen President Yukito Higaki said 10 tugboats were deployed and workers were dredging the banks and seafloor near the vesselrsquos bow to try to get it afloat as the high tide starts to go outThere were also plans to pump water from the interior spaces of the vessel still the ship remained wedged in the canal on Saturday as well Now 320 vessels lay waiting to be passed throughMarch 28 More tugboats deployed excavators dig into the canals eastern wallExcavators trying to free the shipTwo additional tugboats mdash the Dutchflagged Alp Guard and the Italianflagged Carlo Magno mdash sped to the Suez Canal to aid the salvage efforts Excavators dug the eastern wall of the canal hoping to free the bow of the ship that had ploughed into the embankment Workers planned to make two attempts to free the vessel coinciding with high tides helped by a full moon on Sunday nightMarch 29 Finally afloat after moving over 30000 cubic meters of sandA picture released by Egypts Suez Canal Authority on March 29 2021 shows a man waving the Egyptian flag after Panamaflagged MV Ever Given container ship was fully dislodged from the banks of the SuezThe Ever Given managed to pull free from the bank of the Suez Canal allowing for the long tailback of ships to pass through one of the worldrsquos most important trade routes The container shiprsquos manager confirmed that the ship has been set afloat at 3 pm local time on Monday and was heading to the Great Bitter Lake where it would undergo a full inspectionSalvage teams pulled the ship free from the sandy bank with tugs Horns sounded in celebration as it made her way up the canal after an operation that involved moving 30000 cubic meters of sandwith inputs from agencies