Cargo Ship Stranded in Suez Canal May Be Re-Floated on Saturday

By Staff, Agencies

The Wall Street Journal cited sources as saying that efforts to dig giant Japanese container ship Ever Given out that were made late Friday were going well, bringing some hope that the work would be accomplished earlier than previously expected.

“We may get it moving earlier than originally thought,” the source said.

Ever Given, one of the largest vessels afloat at over 200,000 tons, has been grounded in the Suez Canal for over three days, and may be re-floated on Saturday, media reported.

On Friday, the vessel's owner, Evergreen, said that it would take at least two or three days to free the stranded ship after the last day's efforts turned futile.

Passage through the Suez Canal has been stopped since early on Monday after 224,000-ton Ever Given ran aground, blocking the entire width of the crucial global-trade waterway.

Ever Given has blocked one of the world's busiest and most important waterways, prompting frantic salvage efforts, including the use of two dredgers, nine tug boats and four diggers, and a growing traffic jam at either end of the canal.

Up to 20,000 cubic meters [706,000 cubic feet] of sand in the canal need to be removed to free the gigantic container ship, according to the canal authorities.