Rudder and propellers freed from cargo ship stranded in Suez Canal

The rudder and propellers of the Ever Given, the mega cargo ship that ran aground in the Suez Canal blocking the passage of this very important waterway, have already been freed, according to the maritime services company Gulf Agency Company (GAC), one of the companies working in the area; meanwhile, the Suez Canal Authority, in charge of managing the maritime infrastructure, continues dredging land to free the hull of the blocked ship. 

A new attempt to refloat the vessel at high tide failed on Saturday night, but "this morning it was reported that the rudder and propellers were free," the Dubai-based firm GAC said on its website. GAC, which quoted the Suez Canal Authority as saying that "the bow of the ship is still sunk on the bank of the canal" and that there had been "slight lateral movement".

It is a complicated situation as the Suez Canal, which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, is one of the world's main commercial arteries whose obstruction affects the daily transit of goods worth approximately 8 billion euros. In order to raise awareness of the importance of this waterway, it is worth remembering that 12% of world trade transits through this waterway.

The Canal Authority issued a communiqué in which it made no reference to this progress and pointed out that, according to its chief, Osama Rabie, 27,000 cubic metres of sand had already been dredged from the part of the shore where the ship's bow is aground, reaching a depth of 18 metres.

Rabie affirmed that the work to undock the Ever Given would continue 24 hours a day and that "dredging work would be carried out during the day and Ever Given would be towed by the tugboats at times compatible with tidal conditions". All of this after those in charge of undocking the vessel said that the work of freeing the container ship could take weeks. 

According to Rabie, 12 tugboats are participating in the attempts to refloat the ship, a gigantic container ship of 400 metres in length and a cargo capacity of 224,000 tonnes, and that the arrival of another two was planned, as the EFE news agency pointed out.

Both GAC and Leth Agencies, another firm specialising in logistics services in canals and straits, assured that a new attempt to move the ship by the tugboats was expected shortly, coinciding with the rising tide, according to EFE. 

Meanwhile, ships continue to accumulate at the two entrances to the canal, both in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, awaiting unblocking, and although some vessels have already diverted their routes to bypass Africa, according to Leth Agencies, by Sunday morning they numbered 327. This figure included 134 at Port Said on the Mediterranean, 151 at Suez on the Red Sea and 42 at the Great Lake in the middle section of the canal.

Ever Given is blocking the northern and southern approaches to the Suez Canal and some vessels have opted to change their route and round the Cape of Good Hope.

Admiral Osama Rabie admitted that he could not say when this important waterway, which has been blocked since Tuesday, would be unblocked.  "It is difficult to say when the problem will be solved," Rabie told a crowded press conference at the Canal Authority's headquarters in the city of Ismailiya, on the banks of the Suez Canal. Despite being optimistic that the giant ship could be moved with the 14 tugboats scheduled to carry out the task, the tide was not favourable overnight. "Last night we were very optimistic about finishing because the vessel was responding well, but in the evening the low tide came in and we had to stop," Rabie lamented.

"I can't say when we will finish, maybe tonight, God willing, maybe tomorrow," he added, noting that there are currently 14 tugboats, although success is not guaranteed because of the difficult situation with the rocky terrain and strong tides and winds. 

The dredgers have already completed the first step, which was to remove the sand around the Ever Given's bow and excavate to increase the depth of the channel on the shore where it ran aground. The second step is to drag the container ship out of the channel and reposition it. If all attempts to move the vessel with its full cargo fail, a portion of the 18,300 containers it is carrying would be unloaded to lighten the ship's weight, Rabie said.