UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS, STATEMENT BY EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT, REVISES DECK
By Mohammed Khabisa, Mohammad Abdullah, Cagri Kosak and Zehra Nur Duz
ANKARA/ISTANBUL (AA) – The MV Ever Given, a massive container ship that has been blocking the Suez Canal for six days, was successfully re-floated early Monday, said Egyptian shipping authorities.
Speaking to Egypt’s state-run television, Mohab Mamish, Egyptian President's Adviser for Suez Canal and Ports Projects, said "the cargo ship was freed and has already sailed."
Local media reported that the Ever Given container ship has started its engines and returned back to its normal track.
Head of the Suez Canal Authority, Osama Rabie, told local media that the canal will likely be reopened to navigation this afternoon after the container ship is taken to the country’s lakes region for examination.
Rabie earlier said that the Ever Given’s course had been corrected by 80% and further maneuvers would resume when water level rises later in the day.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi released a statement hailing Egyptian efforts to refloat the stuck cargo ship.
“Today, Egyptians have succeeded in ending the crisis of the stranded ship in the Suez Canal despite the operation's massive technical complexity,” Sisi said on Twitter.
“Returning things to their natural course by Egyptian hands…, the whole world can rest assured that their needs will be met and goods will flow through this central navigational artery,” he noted.
The crisis began on Tuesday when the giant ship ran aground, blocking international trade in one of the main waterways in the world where more than 320 ships including oil tankers were stuck on the entrances of the canal, sparking a crisis in the world supply chain especially in Europe.
Earlier on Monday, Egyptian authorities announced the start of train-pulling maneuvers to sail the ship through the canal, involving 10 giant tugs operating from four different sides.
On Sunday, the Dutch APL GUARD tug with a pulling force of 285 tons along with the Maradev locomotive have arrived to join the efforts of pulling the stuck ship.
The 400m-long Ever Given ship, which is owned by the Japanese company Shoei Kisen KK, was sailing from China to the Netherlands with almost 220,000 tons of goods when it grounded in the Suez Canal.
*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara
