The skyscraper-sized container ship has been refloated nearly a week after it lodged sideways in the Suez Canal, bringing all traffic to a screeching halt and causing billions of dollars in losses due to delivery delays.
The long-awaited liberation of the ship sparked raucous celebrations at the port. The vessels trapped by the giant ‘beached” vessel for almost a week were blowing their horns as they rejoiced at the news.
The Ever Given was refloated at 04:30 local time on Monday, Inchcape tweeted, adding that the ship, which is one of the largest container vessels in the world, is “being secured at the moment.”
Earlier on Monday, the Suez Canal Authority reported that 10 tug boats would pull and push the Panama-flagged ship from four different directions at dawn, hoping to get advantage of high tide.
It is unclear when some 360 ships that are waiting in the massive traffic jam to transit the channel will be given the green light to pass.
The blockage of the waterway, which accounts for about 15 percent of world shipping traffic, was estimated to incur a $400 million loss per hour due to delays. The incident also cost the canal up to $14 million in lost revenue daily. On average, some 50 vessels would pass the narrow waterway, connecting Europe to Asia, a day.
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