Megaship blocking Suez Canal may be refloated today, says owner

CAIRO – A megaship blocking Egypt’s Suez Canal could be refloated as early as today, the vessel’s Japanese owner told local media, as the crisis forced companies to reroute services from the vital shipping lane around Africa.

The MV Ever Given, which is longer than four football fields, has been wedged diagonally across the span of the canal since Tuesday, blocking the waterway in both directions.

At a press conference in Japan yesterday, the president of Shoei Kisen – which owns the ship – told local media there were no signs of damage to its engines and various instruments.

“The ship is not taking water. There is no problem with its rudders and propellers. Once it refloats, it should be able to operate,” Yukito Higaki said in the western city of Imabari, according to the Asahi Shimbun.

Work crews were hoping to remove the ship as early as Saturday evening Tokyo time, he said.

“We are continuing work to remove sediment as of now, with additional dredging tools,” Higaki said, according to the Nikkei Asia.

The blockage has caused a huge traffic jam for more than 200 ships at both ends of the 193km long canal and major delays in the delivery of oil and other products.

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement – the ship’s technical manager – said yesterday that an attempt to refloat the vessel had failed.

“The focus is now on dredging to remove sand and mud from around the port side of the vessel’s bow,” the firm said.

Smit Salvage, a Dutch firm that has worked on some of the most famous wrecks of recent years, confirmed there would be “two additional tugs” arriving by tomorrow to assist, it added.

There had been “no reports of pollution or cargo damage and initial investigations rule out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the grounding”.

Crews had been seen working through the night, using a large dredging machine under floodlights.

But the vessel with gross tonnage of 219,000 and deadweight of 199,000 has yet to budge, forcing global shipping giant Maersk and Germany's Hapag-Lloyd to look into rerouting around the southern tip of Africa. – AFP, March 27, 2021