Admiral Osama Rabie, Chairperson of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), announced on Monday that the grounded Ever Given container ship has been re-floated successfully, which means that navigation along the Suez Canal can also be resumed.
The vessel is now on its way to anchor in the Great Bitter Lake anchorage area, in order to initiate the vessel’s technical inspection. More information about next steps will follow once received.
The EVER GIVEN vessel had blocked the international waterway for six days.
Earlier on Monday, Rabie had announced that the ship responded to the pulling and towing manoeuvres, and its course was significantly modified by 80%.The stern of the ship was moved away from the shore by 102 metres, instead of four metres.
The manoeuvres were scheduled to be resumed once the water level rose by 2 metres to its maximum levels, as of 11:30am. This allowed the ship’s course to be completely modified to the middle of the navigational water-section.
Rabie sent a message of reassurance to the international maritime community, on Monday morning, saying that navigation in the Suez Canal, one of the world’s busiest maritime routes, will resume.
He praised the SCA’s employees who accomplished this great achievement, and expressed appreciation for their efforts in the past few days.
Rabie also applauded their efforts in carrying out their national duty to the fullest, with his full confidence in the completion of the work.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said that Egyptians had successfully ended the Suez Canal crisis to free the stranded ship, despite the enormous technical complexity of the process from every side.
“The world can be assured of a return to normal, as goods continue their passage through this main navigational artery,” the President said, “I thank every loyal Egyptian who contributed technically and practically to ending this crisis.”
