News

#US Navy ready to help free cargo ship blocking Suez Canal

“#US Navy ready to help free cargo ship blocking Suez Canal”

The US Navy is prepared to do whatever it can to help float this boat.

The Navy could be called in to free the grounded container ship that has blocked the Suez Canal and interrupted global trade since Tuesday.

“A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Navy was prepared to send a team of dredging experts to the canal, but was awaiting approval from local authorities,” Reuters reported this morning.

The cargo ship Ever Given, registered in Panama and under German management, weighs about 224,000 tons and is 1,300 feet long, about the height of the Empire State Building.

It was forced aground by strong winds. Various efforts to free the ship have since failed, though the ship did move for the first time Saturday morning, according to Egyptian authorities.

A work crew using excavating equipment tries to dig out the Ever Given, a Panama-flagged cargo ship, that is wedged across the Suez Canal and blocking traffic in the vital waterway.

“Today, we managed to create a space with a depth of 18 meters and we believe we will be able to have the ship back into operation by today,” Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie said in a press conference today.

About 12 percent of world trade passes through the Suez, according to the Jerusalem Post.

The Ever Given, one of the world's largest container ships, can be seen on March 26 after it ran aground in the Suez Canal. — The Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container ships, can be seen on March 26 after it ran aground in the Suez Canal.

The Ever Given was involved in a collision with a ferry boat in Hamburg, Germany in 2019, an accident also attributed to wind.

If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on Google News too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.