Suez Canal Chief Lieutenant General Osama Rabei confirmed that the 24-hour work to end the crisis of the ship Evergiven, which has been stuck in the Suez Canal for days, has started.
Rabei clarified that the incident did not occur in the new shipping lane of the Suez Canal, but in the southern entrance of the canal.
He further said that the number of the ships awaiting in the Suez Canal blocked by the vessel has reached 321, and that the authority is providing them all logistic services.
The Evergiven is 400 meters long, 59 meters wide, and has 18,300 containers onboard with a capacity of 224,000 tons. The vessel ran aground due to bad weather and sandstorm, and is wedged diagonally across the canal, where vessels pass through from both directions, since March 23, 2021.
Being stranded at this point, the ship has resulted in the suspension of international maritime trade through the canal, which is one of the busiest waterways in the world and connects Asia and Africa with Europe.
“No ships stranded in the Suez Canal have changed their courses to other routes,” Rabie said, adding that he rules out that any ships would change their courses in the future, explaining that the Suez Canal “is the shortest passage for the maritime navigational traffic the world.”
Suez Canal Chief Lieutenant General Osama Rabei further thanked countries the UAE, China, Greece and Japan for offering their assistance and support to help refloat the ship.
“On Friday, there was an indication of success to refloat the ship, but we cannot guarantee when exactly the refloating process complete,” Rabie said.
He also added that “sand storm could not be the main cause of the incident,” but added that there will be investigation to know the exact reasons.
“In such incidents, we ask the captain to offer up all documents, videos and audios for the investigations,” he explained, adding that compensation will be considered.
The Evergiven, according to Rabie, has passed through the canal before.
Source: Egypt Today