Photos: Egypt races to dislodge giant vessel Ever Given blocking Suez Canal

This photo released by the Suez Canal Authority on Thursday, March 25, 2021, shows Lt. Gen. Ossama Rabei, centre, head of the Suez Canal Authority, with a team walk along the bank of the Suez Canal where the Ever Given, a Panama-flagged cargo ship, has become wedged across the Suez Canal and blocking traffic in the vital waterway. | The Ever Given, a Panama-flagged ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground in the narrow canal that runs between Africa and the Sinai Peninsula. It got stuck in a single-lane stretch of the canal, about six kilometers north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez.

In a photo from the Suez Canal Authority, a boat navigates in front of the Ever Given, a container ship operated by a company called Evergreen, which has blocked all traffic in the Suez Canal when it became wedged there. | The ship, owned by the Japanese firm Shoei Kisen KK, has blocked traffic in the canal, causing headaches for global trade. Around 10% of world trade flows through the canal, which is particularly crucial for the transport of oil. The closure also could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Middle East.

A satellite image shows stranded container ship Ever Given run around in the Suez Canal, Egypt March 25, 2021. | At least 150 ships were waiting for the Ever Given to be cleared, including vessels near Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea, Port Suez on the Red Sea and those already stuck in the canal system on Egypt's Great Bitter Lake, said Leth Agencies, which provides services for the canal.

A handout picture released by the Suez Canal Authority on March 25, 2021 shows the 400-metre- long and 59-metre wide Ever Given lodged sideways and impeding all traffic across the waterway of Egypt's Suez Canal. | The Suez Canal Authority, which operates the waterway, deployed tugboats and a specialized suction dredger that is able to shift 2,000 cubic metres of material every hour.

In a photo from the Suez Canal Authority, workers assess the condition of the Ever Given, a container ship operated by a company called Evergreen, which has blocked all traffic in the Suez Canal when it became wedged there. The shutdown of the vital waterway and its impact on trade underscore the world’s reliance on global supply chains. | The backlog of vessels could stress European ports and the international supply of containers, already strained by the coronavirus pandemic, according to IHS Markit, a business research group. It said 49 container ships were scheduled to pass through the canal in the seven days following Tuesday, when the Ever Given became lodged.

In a photo from the Suez Canal Authority, two tugboats work to free the Ever Given container ship, operated by Evergreen, which has been stuck in the Suez Canal. | Efforts to dislodge the massive Ever Given container vessel blocking the Suez Canal will take until at least next Wednesday, longer than initially feared.

This photo released by the Suez Canal Authority on Thursday, March 25, 2021, shows the head of the Suez Canal Authority, Lt. Gen. Ossama Rabei, centre, with a team look from another vessel towards the Ever Given, a Panama-flagged cargo ship, after it become wedged across the Suez Canal.

It wasn't immediately clear what caused the Ever Given to become wedged on Tuesday. GAC, a global shipping and logistics company, said the ship had experienced a blackout without elaborating. Evergreen Marine Corp., a major Taiwan-based shipping company that operates the ship, said in a statement that the Ever Given had been overcome by strong winds as it entered the canal from the Red Sea, but that none of its containers had sunk. The Suez Canal Authority also blamed bad weather for the incident.

A map shows a traffic jam in the Suez Canal, Egypt March 25, 2021.

Egypt's Suez Canal Authority has said between 15,000 and 20,000 cubic metres of sand would have to be removed in order to reach a depth of 12-16 metres and refloat the Stranded container ship Ever Given.

Commercial cargo and container ships ride anchor while waiting to transit the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt, on Thursday, March 25, 2021. The Suez situation could compound issues for a supply chain already under pressure from the pandemic and a surge in buying.