03/28/2021 14:05
Clarín.com
World
Updated 03/28/2021 2:05 PM
The 400-meter-long container ship
stranded in the Suez Canal
for the sixth day in a row resisted recent attempts to refloat it on Sunday, but an expected high tide during the day could ease the job.
On Sunday,
new operations
were being prepared
to re-float the "Ever Given"
, of more than 220,000 tons, stuck diagonally in the canal since Tuesday and completely blocking this 300-meter-wide waterway, one of the busiest of the world.
The Suez Canal carries around
10% of international maritime trade
, and each day of blockade causes significant delays and costs for the sector.
Although the attempt to unload the ship failed on Friday, now there is hope with the high tide expected during the day and that it could help rescue teams.
The Ever Given on the Suez Canal.
Photo Bloomberg
A dozen tugs and dredgers
are mobilizing
to suck up the sand from under the ship, whose bow is embedded in the shore.
According to the spokesman for the Egyptian Suez Canal Authority (SCA), George Safwat, some 27,000 cubic meters of sand have already been removed, at a depth of 18 meters.
The ship was surrounded
by tugboats
this Sunday
,
according to an AFP journalist at the scene.
Its silhouette, about 60 meters high, dominated the fields and palm trees of the western bank.
More help
The area was heavily guarded by canal security personnel but also by the military and police.
Two new dredgers
, currently in the Red Sea, are on the way: the Italian Carlo Magno and the Dutch Alp Guard, according to maritime traffic monitoring websites.
And two more Egyptian tugs are going to be launched, according to the SCA.
In an interview on Egyptian television on Saturday, Admiral Osama Rabie, president of the SCA, said that the ship had "moved 30 degrees to the right and left" for the first time, "a good indicator" of the evolution of the efforts.
The work of the dredgers in the Suez Canal.
Photo EFE
"Sources close to the salvage operation told me this morning that optimism in the expert team was increasing and that they
were hopeful that the ship could be released within 24-48 hours,"
Richard Meade, editor of the specialized magazine Lloyd's list.
Meanwhile the
"Ever Given"
blocks more than 300 ships stuck at both ends of the canal that links the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, Rabie said on Saturday.
According to a report by insurance company Allianz released on Friday, each day of inactivity could cost world trade
between $ 6 billion and $ 10 billion.
In addition, the first concrete effects begin, as in Syria, which on Saturday announced that it had begun to
ration fuel distribution
due to the delay in the delivery of an oil shipment.
11 cargo ships with cattle that left Romania are also blocked.
Animals International claims that
all 130,000 animals are in danger of death.
According to the state newspaper Al Ahram, the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture has sent three veterinary teams to examine the animals.
The total value of goods blocked
or having to take an alternative route
differs according to estimates: from $ 3 billion a day according to Jonathan Owens, a logistics expert at the British University of Salford, to $ 9.6 billion according to Lloyd's List, a maritime magazine British.
The canal authorities stressed for their part that Egypt loses between 12 and 14 million dollars per day of closure.
Nearly 19,000 ships used the canal in 2020,
according to the SCA.
While waiting for traffic to resume, large shipping companies such as Maersk or the French CMA CGM decided to divert their ships and sail around the Cape of Good Hope, a diversion of 9,000 kilometers and at least seven more days of navigation.
Although the incident was initially attributed to high winds combined with a sandstorm, Rabie said on Saturday that
possible "human error"
was one of the reasons for the incident.
Source: AFP and ANSA
PB
Look also
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