'Ever Given' finally set adrift. Here's a timeline of the Suez blockage crisis
Ever Given set free: The massive container ship was finally pulled free from the banks of the Suez Canal today, allowing for the long tailback of ships to start navigating once again through one of the world’s most important trade routes.
A massive container ship, the 'Ever Given was on Monday dislodged from the banks of the Suez Canal after nearly a week-long effort to free it. The vessel's release comes as a breath of relief for the shipping industry as a whole, which has had a tumultuous year since the Covid-19 pandemic began roiling global trade in 2020.
From being grounded at one of the most important waterways in the world to being finally set adrift, here's a complete timeline of the events:
March 23: Cargo ship gets stuck in Suez Canal
The 'Ever Given', a 200,000-tonne Panama-flagged ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground at 7:40 am (05:40 GMT) on Tuesday, March 23, 2021, in the southernly mouth of the Suez Canal, a narrow, man-made canal dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula.
As a result, it blocked other vessels from transiting the waterway, one of the world's most important maritime trade routes. The Ever Given's bow was touching the canal's eastern wall, while its stern looked lodged against its western wall, according to satellite data from MarineTraffic. Several tug boats surrounded the ship.
March 24: Dozens of ships wait for the canal to clear, causing a traffic jam
On Wednesday, cargo ships and oil tankers appeared to be lining up at the southern end of the Suez Canal, waiting to be able to pass through the waterway to the Mediterranean Sea. Bloomberg reported, citing shipbrokers and mapping data, that at least 100 vessels seeking to transit between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean had piled up. The Taiwan-based Evergreen Line, the time charterer of the vessel, said in an emailed response to the news agency's questions that the ship “was grounded accidentally after deviating from its course due to suspected sudden strong wind”.
In the evening, salvage operations saw a silver lining when the ship was partially refloated alongside the canal bank. GAC, which is the provider of port-agent services, said that the ship was expected to be refloated shortly. However, despite efforts to release the ship with tugs and excavators, the Suez Canal stayed blocked, with dozens of vessels gridlocked in a lengthy halt behind it. As many as 10 tug boats struggled to free the 400-metre, 224,000-tonne 'Ever Given'.
March 25: Egypt suspends all traffic in Suez Canal
Japanese ship-leasing firm Shoei Kisen Kaisha, which owns the ship, said that it was facing "extreme difficulty" trying to refloat it. 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 canal."
As the bid to refloat the ship faced fresh trouble, Egypt suspended all traffic through Suez Canal, keeping one of the world's busiest shipping lanes in a chokehold. At least 150 other vessels needing to pass through the crucial waterway idled waiting for the obstruction to clear, authorities said.
Dredgers tried to clear silt around the massive ship. Tug boats nudged the vessel alongside it, trying to gain momentum. The head of a Dutch salvage firm that sent experts to help said that the recovery could take "days or weeks". It was around this time that other container carriers and vessels start taking the costly and time-consuming voyage around Africa instead.
March 26: Maritime traffic jam grows; White House raises alarm
It was reported that the US government offered Egypt assistance removing the grounded ship, after sensing potential impacts on energy markets. Almost 300 vessels were reported by Bloomberg to have queued up, compared to the 238 on Thursday.
Several ships in the Indian Ocean, initially bound for the Suez Canal, changed course and took a detour. The ship's Japanese owner said that it aimed to refloat the ship on Saturday night Tokyo time.
March 27: Authorities plan to use tidal movement to free ship
With erstwhile attempts failing to produce any substantial result, a plan is made to refloat 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 vessel’s bow to try to get it afloat again as the high tide starts to go out.
Plans were also in the works to pump water from the interior spaces of the vessel. Nevertheless, the ship remained wedged in the waterway on Saturday, as well, while around 320 vessels still lay waiting for the channel to clear up, according to the head of the waterway authority, Osama Rabie. Now new timeline for extracting the wedged ship from the Suez Canal was given, however.
March 28: Additional tugboats deployed, excavators dig into the canal's eastern wall
Two additional tugboats — the Dutch-flagged Alp Guard and the Italian-flagged Carlo Magno — sped to the Suez Canal to aid the salvage efforts. Excavators dug the eastern wall of the Suez Canal, hoping to free the bulbous bow of the Ever Given that ploughed into the embankment, satellite photos showed. Workers planned to make two attempts to free the vessel coinciding with high tides helped by a full moon on Sunday night.
Monday, March 29: 'Ever Given' finally set adrift after moving over 30,000 cubic meters of sand
The massive container ship was finally pulled free from the bank of the Suez Canal, allowing for the long tailback of ships to start navigating once again through one of the world’s most important trade routes. The manager of the Ever Given container ship confirmed it had been refloated in the Suez Canal at 3 pm local time on Monday and was heading to the Great Bitter Lake where it would undergo a full inspection.
Salvage teams pulled the ship free from the sandy bank with tugs. Horns sounded in celebration as she made her way up the canal after an operation that involved moving 30,000 cubic meters of sand.
(With inputs from agencies)