150 ships remain stuck as Suez Canal still blocked

A skyscraper-sized cargo ship wedged across Egypt's Suez Canal further imperilled global shipping on Thursday as at least 150 other vessels needing to pass through the crucial waterway idled waiting for the obstruction to clear, authorities said.

The Ever Given, a Panama-flagged ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground Tuesday in the narrow, man-made canal dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula.

In the time since, efforts to free the ship using dredgers, digging and the aid of high tides have yet to push the container vessel aside.



Egyptian officials and others resumed work to free the vessel on Thursday morning after halting for the night.

So far, dredgers have tried to clear silt around the massive ship.

Tug boats nudged the vessel alongside it, trying to gain momentum.

From the shore, at least one backhoe dug into the canal's sandy banks, suggesting the bow of the ship had ploughed into it.

So, the #SuezCanal is blocked...

Massive container ship EVER GIVEN stuck in the most awkward way possible.

Ongoing for hours. Every tug Egypt could spare appear to be trying to pull it free.

Vessel tracker: https://t.co/MsTUgVgyTH pic.twitter.com/08w4qpPqln

— John Scott-Railton (@jsrailton) March 23, 2021

Canal service provider Leth Agencies said at least 150 ships were waiting for the Ever Given to be cleared, including vessels near Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea, Port Suez on the Red Sea and those already stuck in the canal system on Egypt's Great Bitter Lake.