DUBAI, UAE – A huge cargo ship turned sideways in Egypt’s Suez Canal, blocking traffic on a crucial East-West waterway for global shipping, according to satellite data consulted Wednesday.
Traffic on the narrow waterway that divides mainland Africa from the Sinai Peninsula came to a halt on Tuesday after the Panama-flagged MV Ever given, a Panama-flagged container ship with an owner listed in Japan, was trapped.
It was not immediately known what caused Ever Give to turn sideways on the channel. GAC, a global logistics and shipping company, described Ever Give as suffering “a blackout while traveling north,” without detailing it. Others blamed strong winds for turning the boat.
The bow of the Ever Give touched the eastern wall of the canal, while its stern appeared to be lodged against the western wall, according to satellite data from MarineTraffic.com. Several tugs surrounded the boat, probably trying to push it in the right way, according to the data.
An image posted on Instagram by a user on another cargo ship appeared waiting to show the Ever Give coined across the channel.
Channel authorities were unable to contact him immediately in the early hours of Wednesday. The ship appeared to be trapped about 6 miles north of the southern mouth of the canal, near the city of Suez.
According to MarineTraffic data, cargo ships and tankers appeared to line up at the southern end of the Suez Canal, waiting to be able to cross the waterway to the Mediterranean Sea.
A United Nations database listed Ever Ever as owned by Shoei Kisen KK, a boat rental company based in Imabari, Japan. The company could not be reached for comment immediately on Wednesday. The ship had classified its destination as Rotterdam in the Netherlands before it ran aground on the canal.
Evergreen Marine Corp., a major Taiwan-based shipping company, also included the Ever Ever list among the ships in its fleet and the ship carries its color scheme and logo.
Evergreen could not be contacted immediately for comment, although Taiwan’s Central News Agency, quoted by unidentified company sources, said the ship had been blown away by strong winds as it entered the Suez Canal. from the Red Sea, but none of its containers had sunk.
The Ever Give, built in 2018 with a length of about 400 meters and a width of 59 meters, is among the largest cargo ships in the world.
Opened in 1869, the Suez Canal provides a crucial link for the transportation of oil, natural gas and goods from east to west. About 10% of world trade flows by river and remains one of the main currency winners in Egypt. In 2015, the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi completed a major expansion of the canal, which allowed it to house the largest ships in the world.
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Associated Press writer Taijing Wu in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report.
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Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.