KEY POINTS

  • Traffic along the route is likely to be restored soon
  • The Suez Canal accounts for as much as 12% of the world’s seaborne trade
  • Ever Given got stuck last Tuesday
     

The container ship MV Ever Given that got stuck in the Suez Canal has been refloated, maritime services company Inchcape has informed.

The Twitter post read: "The MV Ever Given was successfully re-floated at 04:30 lt 29/03/2021. She is being secured at the moment. More information about next steps will follow once they are known."

The mammoth container ship had veered off its course in the single-lane stretch of the canal during a sandstorm on Tuesday, blocking the Suez Canal. Now that the ship has been moved, the traffic along the route is likely to be restored soon. About 12% of global trade passes through the canal.

The impasse had caused a traffic jam with hundreds of ships waiting to enter the Suez.

Ever Given, one of the largest container ships in the world, is nearly a quarter-mile long with a 20,000-container capacity.

(This is a developing story)

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