Suez Canal chaos: Ever Given turns '80% in right direction'; video shows megaship moving

The giant quarter-mile-long MV Ever Given container ship lodged diagonally in the narrowest chokehold of the key global maritime passageway was “turned” 80 percent and may take some more effort to fully maneuver after it was refloated early Monday morning. In a statement, the Suez Canal Authority said that the ship has responded to “the pulling and towing maneuvers,” adding that its course will be fixed almost entirely after the efforts resume when the water level rises later. The authority added that the maritime traffic waiting to traverse the lengthy canal will be able to pass through after Panama flagged super tank is redirected to the Bitter Lakes, the wider section of the canal. 

In the footages that emerged on Twitter, the back of the Ever Given was dislodged from the Suez Canal bank, nearly 6 days after the mammoth vessel wedged lengthways marking a week-long ruckus in the strategic and one of the most important shipping lanes of the world. It can be seen that the  224,000-ton ship’s stern and rudder was refloating and now the bow remains to be pulled out of the sand as the rescue staff was hard at work attempting to unblock the navigational artery. 

The MV Ever Given container ship began to float successfully after responding to the pulling maneuvers in the morning at about 4:30 am, head of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Osama Rabie told the state TV in a telephonic interview. The cargoes and tankers waiting at the anchorages will be allowed to navigate after it is docked at the ballast, he said.

[Ship stuck in Suez Canal. Credit: Twitter/@Maxar]

[Credit: Twitter/@ Inshapeshipping]

The 20,000 container capacity vessel, which is roughly 400-meter (430-yard) long, the size of the New York Empire State building, had blocked the route jamming slant due to heavy gush of winds last Tuesday bringing over 12 percent trade by volume across Asia, North America, and Europe to a standstill. A rescue operation team from Dutch firm Smit Salvage and canal authority workers led the dredging and excavation efforts on at least 11 tug boats in the early hours of March 29, swinging the stern around and straightening the Ever Given ship.

[Crowded waiting areas and anchorages where cargoes are lined up. Credit: Twitter/@jsrailton]

Blowing horns and cheers for ship

Tankers lined behind were seen blowing horns and the tugboat drivers cheered as the giant cargo swirled about 2 degrees or 100 feet after it dredged down to 18 meters into the canal’s eastern banks. The Taiwanese ship’s operator Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, said in a release that the mission was joined by a specialist tug registered in the Netherlands, the ALP Guard, that arrived at the scene on Sunday. It, along with the suction dredger, extracted 2,000 cubic meters of sand from below the vessel's bow per hour in coordination with the Salvagers. 

(Image Credit: Twitter/@mhmdzaki69/AP)