Cairo – Mubasher: The Ever Given cargo vessel has been partially refloated after blocking the Suez Canal for almost a week, the Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said.
After responding to pull-and-push manoeuvres, the vessel’s position has been straightened by 80% and the stern has been moved 102 metres from the canal bank, Osama Rabie added in a statement on Monday.
The authority will resume its efforts to pull the vessel into the middle of the canal when the high tide returns at 11:30 a.m. Cairo time on Monday.
On Sunday, Rabie revealed that the SCA removed about 27,000 cubic metres of sand around the ship’s bow at a depth of 18 metres.
The 224,000 tonne-vessel, which has a length of 400 metres and a width of 59 metres, ran aground in the Suez Canal last Tuesday after being hit by a sandstorm and high winds gusting at about 40 knots.
