Ismailia
The enormous container ship, Ever Given, stranded in the Suez Canal could be freed by the start of next week if heavier tugboats, dredging, and a high tide succeed in dislodging it, a Dutch firm working to free it said.
The 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given became wedged diagonally across a southern section of the canal amid high winds early on Tuesday, disrupting global shipping by blocking one of the world’s busiest waterways.
About 15% of world shipping traffic passes through the canal, and hundreds of vessels are waiting to pass through the waterway once the blockage has been cleared.
Dredgers had removed some 20,000 tonnes of sand from around its bow by Friday, but tugging operations to free the ship were suspended overnight.
They were due to restart early afternoon on Saturday to try to take advantage of the high tide, three sources with knowledge of canal operations said, though they added it could be necessary to remove more sand from around the ship to free it.
“We aim to get it done after the weekend, but everything will have to work out exactly right for that,” Peter Berdowski, chief executive of Boskalis, told Dutch TV programme Nieuwsuur late on Friday.
Boskalis owns Smit Salvage, which was brought in this week to help with efforts by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) to dislodge the ship.
“The bow is really stuck in the sandy clay, but the stern has not been pushed totally into the clay, which is positive. We can try to use that as leverage to pull it loose,” Berdowski said.—AFP
