Due to the high tides brought by a supermoon, the Ever Given ship stuck in the Suez Canal regained buoyancy and was reported back afloat Sunday night.
The news was confirmed by a top pilot that the gigantic container ship had been refloated after the debacle. The ship lodged as confirmed by the authorities for almost a week before its pictures showed up on marine traffic websites.
The global attention that rose due to the blocked 369 boats carrying cargo and fuel, raised concerns over the supply chains and their global impact. The blockage resulted in the crude prices rising, which later went down after the traffic in the canal was expected to resume since the vessel was freed from its banks. The 400 m longship was rescued by the workers from the SCA and the Dutch company Smit Salvage, after a weekend’s work of excavation and dredging.
Over 12% of the world’s trade is carried through the Suez canal, resulting in a loss of around $9.6 billion per day as calculated by Bloomberg.
Due to the delicacy of the operation, the efforts to tug the ship had to wait for the high tide, as stated by Leth Agencies. A total of 14 tugboats were brought up into the canal to move the ship. The shovelers reportedly dug down around 90 feet and shifted more than 950,000 cubic feet of sand due to the mass of rock that lay underneath the ship.
The cause of the incident is being investigated by the authorities even after the initial reports that came out blaming high tides and sandstorms that may have affected the visibility, leading to the ship being lodged in the canal. But the latest comment by Egyptian officials hinting a human error led to the wedging of the ship came into light over the weekend.
