The world has breathed a collective sigh of relief as the stranded boxship Ever Given was finally freed from the banks of the Suez Canal this afternoon – ending its unwelcome six-day stay, stuck fast across one of the world’s busiest waterways.  The giant vessel had been partially unwedged in the early hours of this morning, with the vessel’s stern being released thanks to extensive work from dredgers and a number of powerful tugs.

However while fears were expressed this morning that the hardest part of the operation to refloat the 200,000-tonne ship still lay ahead, its bows were released from the grips of the Egyptian clay as the Suez Canal Authority and salvage experts took advantage of the high tide. The triumphant release was captured by locally-based news crews:

Once the integrity of the canal itself is verified and the Ever Given is towed to the Great Bitter Lake anchorage for inspection, it is widely hoped that regular transits of the waterway can resume quickly. Inevitably as the vessel’s rescue concludes, scrutiny into how the incident happened and who is ultimately liable will intensify over the coming weeks.

 Equally inevitably, the disruption to supply chains caused by the sudden blockage of this main trading artery will ripple out for some weeks to come.

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Photo courtesy of the Suez Canal Authority

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