Ever Given partially refloated, turned ‘80% in right direction’

The giant container ship has been stuck for a week, blocking one of the world’s busiest waterways.

Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has said that the Ever Given container ship, which has been blocking the crucial waterway for nearly a week, was partially refloated and has been turned in the “right direction”.

“The position of the ship has been reorientated 80 percent in the right direction. The stern… moved to 102 metres (335 feet) from the shore,” compared with its position four metres from the shore previously, Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chief Osama Rabie in a statement.

Monday’s move comes a week after the container ship ran aground in high winds, blocking one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

Here are the latest developments on the story:

12 mins ago (06:25 GMT)

Completing refloat of Suez Canal ship won’t be easy: Boskalis CEO

News about the partial refloating of the giant container ship that was stuck in the Suez Canal is good, but completing the operation would not be a “piece of cake”, Boskalis CEO Peter Berdowski told Dutch public radio on Monday.

Boskalis is the parent company of Smit Salvage, which has assisted in efforts to dislodge the ship.

A new tug would arrive and water would be injected under the ship’s bow to help free it, but if those efforts did not work containers might have to be removed, Berdowski said.

13 mins ago (06:25 GMT)

Videos appear to show Ever Given’s stern swung towards canal bank

Videos posted on social media appeared to show the stern of the container ship that had been stuck in the Suez Canal swung towards the canal bank, opening space in the channel.

One of the videos showed tug boats moving around the Ever Given container ship and voices could be heard shouting in celebration.

#BREAKING| Ever Given was successfully re-floated

at 4.30 am local time and was being secured at the moment, Inchcape, a global provider of marine services said on Twitter __ REUTERS#Egypt #Suez #SuezCanal #EVERGIVEN #Evergreen #BreakingNews|#قناة_السويس #السفينة_الجائحة #عاجل pic.twitter.com/HxFAW2LUzw

— Egypt Today Magazine (@EgyptTodayMag) March 29, 2021

13 mins ago (06:24 GMT)

Oil slumps further amid Suez jam

Oil slumped more than two percent after news from the Suez Canal that salvage crews have managed to move the giant container ship that has been clogging up the vital global trade passage for nearly a week.

Brent oil was down $1.38, or 2.1 percent, at $63.19 a barrel by 05:11 GMT.

US crude fell 1.48 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $59.49 a barrel.

A handout photograph made available by the Suez Canal Authority shows tugboats neat the Ever Given container ship [File: Reuters]

–37 mins ago (06:00 GMT)

Stranded ship partially refloated: SCA

The massive container ship blocking Egypt’s Suez Canal has been partially refloated, the SCA said, raising hopes the busy waterway will soon be reopened.

After further dredging and excavation over the weekend, efforts by rescue workers from the authority and a team from Dutch firm Smit Salvage worked to free the ship using tug boats in the early hours of Monday, two marine and shipping sources told the Reuters news agency.

The authority said Ever Given has been straightened in the canal and further tugging operations would resume once the tide rises later on Monday.