CAIRO: All ships stranded by the grounding of the giant container ship Ever Given in the Suez Canal in March had passed through the canal by Saturday, ending the backlog that built up during the blockage, the canal authority said.
The last 61 ships, out of 422 ships that were queuing when the vessel was dislodged on Monday, passed through the vital trade artery on Saturday, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said. International supply chains were thrown into disarray when the 400-metre-long Ever Given ran aground in the canal on March 23, with specialist rescue teams taking almost a week to free her after extensive dredging and repeated tugging operations.
In total, 85 ships had been due to pass through the canal on Saturday including 24 ships that arrived after Ever Given was dislodged, the SCA said.
An SCA investigation began on Wednesday into what caused the vessel to run aground in the canal and block the waterway for six days, the canal authority’s chairman, Osama Rabie, told the MBC Masr private TV late on Friday.
“The investigation is going well and will take two more days, then we will announce the results,” he added.
A total of 361 other vessels have already sailed through the canal since its reopening on Monday, according to Rabie.
“In two days’ time, traffic will have completely returned to normal,”he told the privately owned MBC Masr television.
The 400-metre-long Ever Given is now anchored at the Great Lakesarea, a wider section of the canal, for technical inspection and investigations.
Rabie said the probe was going well, but did not give details.
“As long as the investigation is going on, we have stopped talk on damages,” he said, referring to compensation claimed for losses resulting from the vessel grounding and resulting traffic jam.
The blockage cost the canal operator $13 million to 14 million in losses per day, according to SCA officials. The Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, provides the shortest shipping route between Asia and Europe. — Reuters/dpa
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