The freighter stranded in the Suez Canal has been put back on the water: this was announced by a tweet from the shipowner, the Norwegian agency Leth: "the M/V GLORY has been refloated by the tugs of the Suez Canal Authority. 21 vessels southbound will start/resume their transits. Only short delays expected".
In 2021, the 400-metre-long, 220,000-ton freighter "Ever Given" ran aground blocking the canal for six days and disrupting global supply chains with repercussions that lasted for months.
Using the canal saves a three-week detour to circumnavigate Africa, but is only about 200 meters wide and 24 meters deep in places. About 12% of global trade passes through the Suez Canal with a daily flow of goods worth $10 billion, according to Lloyd's List.
At the time of the Ever Given grounding, US-UK global financial market infrastructure and data provider Refinitiv estimated that Egypt's lost tolls amounted to nearly $100 million.
