No timeline given for extracting wedged ship from Suez Canal

A giant container ship remained stuck sideways in Egypt’s Suez Canal for a fifth day Saturday, as authorities made new attempts to free the vessel and reopen a crucial waterway whose blockage is disrupting global shipping and trade.

https://m.vlive.tv/post/1-22025133

Meanwhile, the head of the Suez Canal Authority said strong winds were “not the only cause” for the Ever Given running aground on Tuesday, appearing to push back against conflicting assessments offered by others. Lt. Gen. Osama Rabei told a news conference Saturday that an investigation was ongoing but did not rule out human or technical error.

https://m.vlive.tv/post/1-22025131

The massive Ever Given, a Panama-flagged ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe, got stuck in a single-lane stretch of the canal, about six kilometers (3.7 miles) north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez.

https://m.vlive.tv/post/0-22018172

Rabei said he could not predict when the ship might be dislodged. A Dutch salvage firm is attempting to refloat the vessel with tugboats and dredgers, taking advantage of high tides.

https://m.vlive.tv/post/0-22018167

Rabei said he remains hopeful that dredging could free the ship without having to resort to removing its cargo, but added that “we are in a difficult situation, it’s a bad incident.”

https://m.vlive.tv/post/0-22018163

Shoei Kisen, the company that owns the vessel, said it was considering removing containers if other refloating efforts fail.

Since the blockage began, a maritime traffic jam has grown to more than 320 vessels waiting on both ends of the Suez Canal and in the Great Bitter Lake in the middle of the waterway.

Peter Berdowski, CEO of Boskalis, the salvage firm hired to extract the Ever Given, said the company hoped to pull the container ship free within days using a combination of heavy tugboats, dredging and high tides.

He told the Dutch current affairs show Nieuwsuur on Friday night that the front of the ship is stuck in sandy clay, but the rear “has not been completely pushed into the clay and that is positive because you can use the rear end to pull it free.”

Berdowski said two large tugboats were on their way to the canal and are expected to arrive over the weekend. He said the company aims to harness the power of the tugs, dredging and tides, which he said are expected to be up to 50 centimeters (20 inches) higher Saturday.

“The combination of the (tug) boats we will have there, more ground dredged away and the high tide, we hope that will be enough to get the ship free somewhere early next week,” he said.

If that doesn’t work, the company will remove hundreds of containers from the front of the ship to lighten it, effectively lifting the ship to make it easier to pull free, Berdowski said.

A crane was already on its way that can lift the containers off the ship, he said.

The salvage mission was turning its focus to the ship’s lodged bow, after some progress was made towards freeing the ship’s stern, the canal service provider Leth Agencies said Saturday.

Egypt Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly called the ship’s predicament “a very extraordinary incident,” in his first public comments on the blockage.

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the Ever Given’s technical manager, said Friday that its initial investigation showed the vessel ran aground due to strong winds and ruled out mechanical or engine failure. However, Rabei seemed to be pushing back against that assessment Saturday.

A prolonged closure of the crucial waterway would cause delays in the global shipment chain. Some 19,000 vessels passed through the canal last year, according to official figures. About 10% of world trade flows through the canal. The closure could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Middle East.

Some vessels began changing course and dozens of ships were still en route to the waterway, according to the data firm Refinitiv.

It remained unclear how long the blockage would last. Even after reopening the canal that links factories in Asia to consumers in Europe, the waiting containers are likely to arrive at busy ports, forcing them to face additional delays before offloading.

Un carguero del tamaño de un rascacielos se quedó atravesado en el Canal de Suez y bloqueó todo el tránsito por el importante paso marítimo en Egipto, dijeron las autoridades el miércoles, amenazando con interrumpir un sistema global de transporte de mercancías ya afectado por la pandemia del coronavirus.

El Ever Given, un buque con bandera de Panamá que transporta contenedores entre Asia y Europa, se quedó encallado en el estrecho canal que divide al continente africano de la península del Sinaí. Imágenes mostraban que la proa del barco estaba tocando la pared este, mientras que su popa parecía alojada contra la pared occidental, un suceso que no había ocurrido en los 150 años del canal.

Remolcadores trataban de despejar el camino mientras los barcos que esperaban ingresar a la vía fluvial comenzaron a alinearse en el Mediterráneo y el Mar Rojo. Se desconoce cuándo se reabrirá la ruta, por la que fluye alrededor del 10% del comercio mundial y que es crucial para el transporte de petróleo. Un funcionario advirtió que podría llevar al menos dos días. Mientras tanto, hay preocupación de que los barcos varados puedan ser blanco de ataques.

“El Canal de Suez no escatimará esfuerzos para garantizar el restablecimiento de la navegación y servir al movimiento del comercio mundial”, prometió el teniente general Ossama Rabei, jefe de la Autoridad del Canal de Suez.

En un primer momento no estaba claro qué causó el encallamiento del Ever Given en el canal. GAC, una compañía naviera y de logística global, indicó que la embarcación sufrió un apagón y no dio más detalles.

“Toda la tripulación está a salvo y localizada”, dijo la compañía Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagemente, que gestiona el Ever Given. “No se han reportado heridos o contaminación”. La firma negó que el barco se hubiera quedado sin energía.

Evergreen Marine Corp., una importante naviera taiwanesa que gestiona el barco, dijo a The Associated Press en un comunicado que el Ever Given se vio remecido por fuertes vientos a su entrada en el Canal de Suez desde el Mar Rojo, pero ninguno de sus contenedores cayó al agua.

Un funcionario egipcio que habló con AP bajo condición de anonimato porque no estaba autorizado a informar a la prensa también atribuyó el incidente al fuerte viento en la zona. La región sufrió vendavales y una tormenta de arena el martes, con vientos de hasta 50 kilómetros (31 millas) por hora, según meteorólogos egipcios.

Una imagen publicada en Instagram por un usuario a bordo de otro buque carguero parecía mostrar al Ever Given atorado en el canal, como indicaban los datos de satélite. Una topadora parecía trabajar junto a su proa, excavando en la arena para tratar de liberar al buque.

El funcionario egipcio indicó que las remolcadoras intentarían reflotar el barco, una operación que llevaría al menos dos días. El buque quedó varado unos 6 kilómetros (3,7 millas) al norte del acceso sur del canal, cerca de la ciudad de Suez, en una zona del canal que es de vía única.