SUEZ, Egypt (AP) – A giant container ship remained stranded sideways in Egypt’s Suez Canal for a fifth day on Saturday as authorities prepared to try to free the ship and reopen a crucial east-west waterway to to world shipping.
The Ever given, a Panama-flagged ship carrying goods between Asia and Europe, ran aground on Tuesday in the narrow canal that runs through Africa and the Sinai Peninsula.
The massive ship was trapped in a single-lane stretch of the canal, about six kilometers (3.7 miles) north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez.
Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, Ever Ever’s technical manager, said an attempt to release him on Friday failed. There were plans to pump water from the boat’s interior spaces, and two more tugs were due to arrive on Sunday to join others already trying to move the massive boat, he said.
An official from the Suez Canal Authority said they had planned to make at least two attempts on Saturday to release the ship when the tide goes down. He said the timing depends on the tide.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to report to journalists.
Egyptian authorities have banned media access to the site. Channel officials said their chief, Lieutenant General Osama Rabei, would hold a press conference on Saturday in the city of Suez, a few kilometers from the ship’s site.
Shoei Kisen president Yukito Higaki told a news conference at the company’s headquarters in Imabari, western Japan, that 10 tugs were deployed and that workers were dredging banks and the seabed in near the bow of the ship to try to float it again when the high tide begins to rise.
Shoei Kisen said in a statement Saturday that the company was considering removing containers to lighten the ship if refloating efforts failed, but it would be a difficult operation.
The White House said it has offered to help Egypt reopen the canal. “We have equipment and capacity that most countries don’t have and we’re seeing what we can do and what help we can be,” President Joe Biden told reporters on Friday.
An initial investigation showed the ship ran aground due to strong winds and ruled out mechanical or engine breakdowns, the company and the canal authority reported. GAC, a global transportation and logistics company, had previously said the ship had experienced an electrical outage, but elaborated nothing.
A traffic jam grew to 280 boats on the outskirts of the Suez Canal on Saturday, according to canal service provider Leth Agencies.
Some boats began to change course and dozens of boats were still en route to the waterway, according to data firm Refinitiv.
Prolonged closure of the crucial waterway would cause delays in the global shipping chain. About 19,000 boats passed through the canal last year, according to official data. Approximately 10% of world trade flows through the canal, which is particularly crucial for oil transportation. The closure could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Middle East.
It was unclear how long the blockade would last. Even after reopening the canal that connects factories in Asia with consumers in Europe, waiting containers are likely to arrive at busy ports, forcing them to face additional delays before unloading.
According to satellite data, the owners of the trapped ship, apparently anticipating long delays, diverted a sister ship, the Ever Greet, to a route around Africa.
Others have also deviated. According to satellite data from MarineTraffic.com, the liquid natural gas carrier Pan Américas changed course in the mid-Atlantic, with the goal now of turning to the southern tip of Africa.