Egypt's Suez Canal chief says strong winds and weather weren't the main reasons the ship ran aground. The Ever Given has been wedged across the canal since Tuesday, blocking the way for other maritime traffic.
The huge container ship has been stuck in the canal since Tuesday, blocking all other maritime trafficImage: Mohamed Elshahed/AP Photo/picture-alliance
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The head of Egypt's Suez Canal Authority, Osama Rabie, said Saturday that "technical or human errors" may be to blame for the grounding of a giant container ship in the crucial waterway.
Rabie told reporters that the ship could possibly be refloated by Sunday evening.
"We could finish today or tomorrow (Saturday or Sunday) depending on the ship's responsiveness" to tides, Rabie said. "We expect that at any time the ship could slide and move from the spot it is in."
Officials previously said strong gusts and a sandstorm had caused the ship to run aground. But Rabie said "weather factors were not the main reasons for the ship's grounding."
"There may have been technical or human errors."
Hundreds of ships delayed
The blockage has caused a huge traffic jam of more than 300 ships along the 193-kilometer (120-mile) canal, and caused major delays in the delivery of oil and other products. Some companies have even been forced to consider re-routing vessels around the southern tip of Africa.
Suez Canal: $10 billion in goods stuck in waterway
The container ship Ever Given has been blocking the Suez Canal for days. Economic fallout is already visible and it could take weeks — and require drastic measures — to free the waterway.
Image: Suez Canal Authority/dpa/picture alliance
Container ship still lodged in canal
Efforts to dislodge the Ever Given, a 400-meter (1,300-foot) container ship that has been blocking the Suez Canal in Egypt since Tuesday, are ongoing as excavators remove sand and mud from the ship's bow while tugboats try to move it. Japanese owner Shoei Kisen has asked for forgiveness and said the job was proving "extremely difficult."
Image: Suez Canal Authority/dpa/picture alliance
Could take weeks to refloat
Dislodging the ship is expected to take about a week, possibly longer, as news agency Bloomberg reported Friday. The Suez Canal Authority, which operates the waterway, has not provided an update on when the canal will be navigable once again. The container ship, which sails under Panamanian flag, is wedged diagonally across the vital transport link.
Image: Suez Canal Authority via Egyptian Cabinet Facebook Page/dpa/picture alliance
Hundreds of ships waiting
Economic fallout began as soon as the Ever Given ran aground, with the price of crude oil fluctuating wildly. At least 200 vessels are backed up at both ends of the canal — at Port Said on the Mediterranean and Suez on the Red Sea — as well as in the canal itself, according to Lloyd's List, a data analyst specializing in container traffic.
Image: Yan Liang/Xinhua/Zuma/picture alliance
Suez Canal (usually) saves ships time
The Suez Canal, which separates the continent of Africa from the Middle East and Asia, is one of the busiest trade routes in the world, handling about 12% of all world trade. The passage saves ships some 7,000 kilometers (4,300 miles) of travel compared to the route around the southern tip of Africa.
Image: Cnes2021/AP/picture alliance
$10 billion in goods are blocked
In addition to oil, consumer goods such as clothing, furniture and auto parts are transported through the canal. Richard Meade of Lloyd's List wrote on Twitter that westbound traffic was estimated to be worth about $5.1 billion (€4.3 billion) a day. Eastbound traffic is worth some $4.5 billion. This means that about $10 billion worth of goods are now blocked.
Image: Mohamed Abd El Ghany/REUTERS
Russia, Saudi Arabia particularly affected
"Every port in western Europe will feel the effects," said a spokesman for the Dutch port of Rotterdam, the EU's largest. Russia and Saudi Arabia, which send the most oil through the canal, are likely to be particularly affected. According to analysts at Vortexa, India and China are the largest oil importers using the canal. The blockade is also likely to be costly for the German economy.
Image: Suez Canal Authority/REUTERS
Worst-case scenario: Sink the containers
The Ever Given is one of the largest cargo ships in the world. If it ends up not being possible to refloat the boat, part of its cargo may have to be destroyed. According to Bloomberg, that could mean removing containers from the ship and possibly sinking them.
Image: Mohamed Abd El Ghany/REUTERS
More than 50 ships a day
According to the Suez Canal Authority, 19,000 ships passed through the canal in 2020 — more than 50 a day. Container ships account for about 26% of all traffic on the canal, which is dominated by oil tankers. In 2019, a total of 600 million tons of goods were transported through the Egyptian waterway.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Shaker
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The vessel's Japanese owner had voiced hope on Friday that the ship could be dislodged by late Saturday.
"The ship is not taking water. There is no problem with its rudders and propellers. Once it refloats, it should be able to operate. We are continuing work to remove sediment as of now, with additional dredging tools," said Yukito Higaki, president of Shoei Kisen KK, which owns the ship.
The parent company of Dutch firm Smit Salvage, which is in charge of the salvage operation, said the ship would only likely be afloat again "at the start of next week."
Crews have been working overnight with large dredging machines under floodlights in an attempt to free the ship, which is about the size of the Empire State Building in New York.
Dredgers have so far removed more than 20,000 tons of sand from around the ship's bow, while 14 heavy tugs have been brought in to assist.
