Ever Given has been floated, traffic resumes

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) on Monday announced the “resumption of traffic” in this major seaway obstructed for nearly a week by a giant container ship, the Ever Given, which was still across the sea. channel just a few minutes ago. “Admiral Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, has proclaimed the resumption of navigation traffic in the canal,” SCA announced in a mid-afternoon statement.

Monday morning at dawn, the ship 400 meters long and more than 220,000 tons, flying the Panamanian flag, had started to move, after the release of its stern, immobilized until then on the west bank of the canal. The maneuvers continued with the aid of several tugs, until the vessel was again found briefly stranded across the canal, according to maritime traffic viewing sites and witnesses at the scene. Shortly after 3:15 p.m. (1:15 p.m. GMT), the vessel had finally found itself in the direction of flow in the middle of the canal, with its stern and bow released.

Almost three and a half days to completely absorb the traffic

The refloating of the ship was greeted by numerous honking of the surrounding boats, as the ship began to slowly ascend north of the canal, AFP journalists noted. Images from local television stations showed the boat moving forward.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi did not wait for the end of the bailout to congratulate himself earlier in the day on a “successful” operation, the famous canal being an important source of income for the country. According to the British specialist magazine Lloyd’s List, the blockage created a traffic jam of 425 ships, which were waiting on Monday to be able to cross this essential route for maritime trade connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. It will take “about three and a half days” to resolve everything, warned Ossama Rabie, chairman of the Canal Authority (SCA), on the local channel Sadaa al-Balad.