Fears grow that efforts to free ship stuck in Suez canal could take weeks

Salvage teams from the Netherlands and Japan have been enlisted to redraw plans to free a giant container ship blocking the Suez canal, as fears grew that the operation could take weeks.

Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine Corp, which leased the vessel, said the Dutch firm Smit Salvage and Japan’s Nippon Salvage had been appointed by the ship’s owner and would work alongside its captain and the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) on a plan to refloat the ship and let traffic resume on one of the world’s key trade routes.

“Evergreen Line will continue to coordinate with the shipowner and Suez Canal Authority to deal with the situation with the utmost urgency, ensuring the resumption of the voyage as soon as possible and to mitigate the effects of the incident,” Evergreen said.

Dredgers have so far tried to clear silt around the ship, and tugboats have tried to nudge it free. From the shore, at least one excavator has dug into the canal’s sandy banks, suggesting the bow of the ship had ploughed into it.

Tailbacks of oil and gas tankers and bulk grain vessels have developed at both ends of the canal, according to tracking data, creating one of the worst shipping jams for years, of 206 large container ships.

The blockage comes on top of the disruption the Covid-19 pandemic has caused to world trade in the past year. Trade volumes have been hit by ship cancellations, container shortages and slower handling at ports.

The SCA, which had allowed some vessels to enter the canal in the hope the blockage would be cleared, said it had temporarily suspended all traffic on Thursday. The shipping giant Maersk said in a customer advisory it had seven vessels affected.