Massive ship runs aground in Suez Canal, blocks the waterway

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A gigantic, fully loaded container ship has run aground and become wedged across Egypt’s Suez Canal, blocking all other vessels from passing through, and threatening the viability of a pandemic-beleaguered global shipping system, the Associated Press reports. The MV Ever Given, a Panama-flagged ship that transports cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground Tuesday for reasons that were still not clear on Wednesday.

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, which operates the Ever Given, said in a statement that all 20 crew members are safe and there are “no reports of injuries or pollution.” Although there has been a report of some kind of blackout on the ship, Bernhard said there had been no loss of power.

Photos of the situation show that the bow of the Ever Given is touching the canal’s eastern wall and its stern is wedged against the western wall: experts said this is an extraordinary event which has never happened in the 150 years the man-made canal has been in use. Some experts have said the accident might have been caused by high winds in the area, although it was not clear how this factor alone could cause a 220,000-ton ship to run aground.

Tugboats have been trying to shift the sky-scraper-sized vessel, as ships needing to pass through the canal remain waiting in the Mediterranean and Red Seas, AP said. Officials have said it may take two days to move the Ever Given: warnings have also been issued about waiting ships being targeted for attacks.

“The Suez Canal will not spare any efforts to ensure the restoration of navigation and to serve the movement of global trade,” Lt. Gen. Ossama Rabei, head of the Suez Canal Authority, said in a statement.

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