Ship in Suez Canal partially un-stuck

Engineers partially dislodged the container ship stuck in the Suez Canal on Monday, with tugboats working to straighten the ship and possibly free it by the end of the day.

Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, Osama Rabie, said tugboats were able to dislodge the bow of the 1,300-foot Ever Given, The Wall Street Journal reports.

“We are not finished yet, but it has moved,” Ramie said. He added that the tugboats would continue working for another hour to make sure the ship is able to move up the canal, with work set to resume when high tide is at its peak around 11:30 a.m. local time.

Rabie said once the ship is fully floated and inspected, then it would be moved north and be anchored at a nearby lake.

“Ship transits will likely resume today,” another person close to the matter said, according to the Journal. “We are looking at giving priority to livestock vessels because they are running out of supplies for the animals.”

According the Journal, a large rock formation that had been holding the bow in place had been broken up, allowing the ship to dislodge.

“We have very high hopes that around noon the tides and wind current will work in our favor,” one of the tugboat workers said. “If that’s the case, we expect the ship to be completely free around 4 p.m. today.”

Passage through the Suez Canal, one of the world’s most trafficked waterways for trade, has been blocked for nearly a week due to the Ever Given becoming lodged.

The back up is estimated to be costing the world economy $400 million an hour according to an analysis from Lloyd’s List. If delays continue past Monday, world trade could potentially be seriously affected.