They look for more options to unblock boat in Suez Canal 0:30
(CNN) -
Video footage from the Suez Canal shows the rear of the container ship Ever Given, which has been stuck for nearly a week, released from the canal bank as rescue crews work to refloat the vessel.
However, it is unclear whether the front has freed itself from its original stranded position.
The video was posted to CNN by employees working on the rescue operation with the Suez Canal Authority (SCA).
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Stuck ship causes Suez Canal blockage
Ten tugs are being used to pull the Ever Given from the front and rear to try to free it, the SCA said in a statement.
Teams from Egypt and around the world have been working non-stop to try to refloat the ship, but previous efforts have failed.
However, this latest attempt is running during high tide, when the water in the canal is at its highest.
The Ever Given, a 224,000-ton ship nearly as long as the height of the Empire State Building, ran aground in the Egyptian Channel on March 23.
A massive effort to save the ship has focused on dredging sand from the front and rear of the ship, before pulling the ship with tugs.
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Rescue crews began digging deeper and closer to the ship on Sunday, and the dredging reached 18 meters (59 feet) at the front of the ship, the SCA said in a statement.
So far, more than 27,000 cubic meters (953,000 cubic feet) of sand have been removed, said SCA Director Osama Rabie.
Their efforts have failed to move the ship much, but its rudders and propellers were released on Friday, allowing for some movement.
"We managed to move the boat from the bow side by 4 meters (13 feet), and also from the stern side," Rabie said Saturday.
"The dredging operations made the ship move, albeit a slight movement, but it is a positive development, because in the first two days the ship was not moving at all."
Rabie added that the reasons for the accident were unclear.
"There are many factors or reasons, the fast winds and the sandstorm could have been a reason, but not the main reason, it could have been a technical error or human error," he said.
"There will be more investigations."
Concerns grew over the weekend about the impact of the lockdown on global supply chains.
The Suez Canal, one of the busiest and most important waterways in the world, loses approximately US $ 14 million a day in transit fees, while billions of dollars of cargo are delayed on more than 350 ships currently awaiting their delivery. He passed.
The effects of the crisis are already clear.
Nearby Syria imposed fuel rationing on Sunday to safeguard declining oil supplies, after tankers were unable to make deliveries due to the blockade.
Syrian authorities said the rationing order was necessary to "ensure the continued supply of basic services to Syrians, such as bakeries, hospitals, water stations, communication centers and other vital institutions."
CNN's Tim Lister contributed to this report.
Suez Canal