9:07 a.m. ET, March 29, 2021
Authorities have temporarily suspended efforts to free front of container ship as high tide fades
From CNN’s Mostafa Salem, Mick Krever and Lina El Wardani
A view of the 'Ever-Given' container ship as it remains lodged sideways impeding traffic across Egypt's Suez Canal waterway, on March 29.
Ahmed Hasan/AFP/Getty Images
Authorities have temporarily suspended efforts to free the front of the Ever Given container ship as the window for high tide faded on Monday afternoon, Egyptian local media said.
A live shot on state media showed tug boats pulling the ship in an attempt to free the front or bow, which is still stuck “rock solid” as per the description of the CEO of a salvage company working to free the ship, Peter Berdowski.
The efforts to pull the ship out will resume later in the day, a reporter said on a local media newscast.
Despite the delay in fully dislodging the ship, Egypt’s President issued a statement Monday saying “Egyptians have successfully managed to end the crisis of the stranded ship.”
“[Egyptians] were able to get things back on track,” he said in a presidential statement on Facebook.
Dozens of ships that planned to travel through the Suez Canal are instead rerouting to the Cape of Good Hope around Africa, adding 8 days of sailing time and expending an additional 500 tons or so of fuel, Lloyds List Intelligence said.
However, more than 350 ships carrying billions of dollars’ worth of freight still await transit through the canal.
It could take days for the backlogged ships to successfully transit, but the head of the Suez Canal Authority said in an interview with Sky News Arabia that “they will work 24 hours” a day to allow the vessels to transit.
The maximum passages per day on average through the Suez Canal for the past three months were 80 to 90 vessels, as per data from Lloyds List.