SUEZ, Egypt (AP) – A giant container ship remained stranded sideways in Egypt’s Suez Canal for a fifth day on Saturday as authorities prepared to make new attempts to free the ship and reopen a crucial eastern waterway -west for global shipping.
The Ever Give, a Panama-flagged ship carrying goods between Asia and Europe, gave birth on Tuesday in the narrow channel that runs between Africa and the Sinai Peninsula.
The massive ship was stranded in a single-lane portion of the canal, about six kilometers north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez.
Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the technical manager of Ever given, said on Friday that it had failed a release attempt. Plans were underway to pump water from the ship’s interiors and two more tugs should arrive by Sunday to join others already trying to move the massive ship, he said.
An official from the Suez Canal Authority said he intends to make at least two attempts on Saturday to release the ship when the wave subsides. He said the timing depends on the tide.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity, as he was not allowed to send journalists.
Egyptian authorities have banned media access to the site. The canal authority said that its chief, Lieutenant General Osama Rabei, will hold a press conference in the city of Suez on Saturday, a few kilometers from the ship’s site.
Shoei Kisen President Yukito Higaki told a news conference at the company’s headquarters in Imabari, western Japan, that 10 tugs had been deployed and workers were dragging the shores and the seabed near the ship’s bow. he pulls it back on the waterline as the big wave begins to come out.
Shoei Kisen said in a statement on Saturday that the company is considering removing the containers to lighten the ship if refloating efforts fail, but this would be a difficult operation.
The White House said it had offered to help Egypt reopen the canal. “We have equipment and capabilities that most countries don’t have and we see what we can do and what help we can be,” President Joe Biden told reporters on Friday.
An initial investigation showed that the ship was born due to strong winds and ruled out mechanical or engine damage, the company and the canal authority said. GAC, a global shipping and logistics company, previously said the ship suffered a power outage, but did not develop it.
A maritime traffic jam increased to about 280 ships on Saturday off the Suez Canal, according to canal service provider Leth Agencies.
Some ships began to change course and dozens of ships were still on their way to the waterway, according to data firm Refinitiv.
Prolonged closure of the crucial waterway would cause delays in the global transport chain. About 19,000 ships passed through the canal last year, according to official figures. About 10% of world trade flows through the canal, which is especially important for oil transportation. The closure could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Middle East.
It was not clear how long the blockade would last. Even after the reopening of the Asian plant to European consumers, the waiting containers are likely to arrive in congested ports, forcing them to face additional delays before unloading.
Anticipating long delays, the owners of the stranded ship diverted a sister ship, Ever Greet, on a course around Africa, according to satellite data.
And others are deviated. The liquefied natural gas carrier Pan Americas has changed course in the middle of the Atlantic, now aiming south to bypass the southern tip of Africa, according to satellite data from MarineTraffic.com.