The chairman of the Suez Canal Authority said the waterway's management was not to blame for the ultra-large container ship Ever Given running aground in the canal, blocking traffic for six days.
The 200,000-tonne, Panama-flagged vessel was successfully refloated on Monday, ending the blockage that disrupted global trade and impacted markets.
The vessel ran aground on March 23 at a narrow stretch of the waterway just north of the city of Suez.
After refloating it, the Ever Given was taken to the Great Bitter Lake halfway through the 193-kilometre canal to be inspected for damage.
-
This satellite imagery released by Maxar Technologies shows a close up overview of the MV Ever Given container ship and tugboats in the Suez Canal. AFP / Maxar Technologies -
The guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61), left, and the guided-missile destroyer USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116) sail behind the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) during a Suez Canal transit, in this picture taken April 2, 2021 and released by U.S. Navy. Reuters -
In this photo released by Suez Canal Authority, the Ever Given, a Panama-flagged cargo ship, is pulled by one of the Suez Canal tugboats, in the Suez Canal, Egypt. AP Photo -
A spectator waves as the Ever Given container ship moves along the Suez Canal towards Ismailia after being freed from the canal bank in Suez, Egypt. Bloomberg -
A man waves at the Panama-flagged MV 'Ever Given' container ship as it is tugged in Egypt's Suez Canal after it was fully dislodged from the banks, near Suez city. AFP -
A view shows Ever Given container ship in Suez Canal in this Maxar Technologies satellite image. Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters -
A handout photograph made available by the Suez Canal Authority shows the Ever Given container ship after it was refloated in the Suez Canal, Egypt. EPA -
A handout photograph made available by the Suez Canal Authority shows the Ever Given container ship after it was refloated in the Suez Canal, Egypt. The head of the Suez Canal Authority announced on 29 March that the large container ship, which ran aground in the Suez Canal on 23 March, is now free floating after responding to the pulling maneuvers. EPA -
People watch Ever Given, a Panama-flagged cargo ship, that has been stuck sideways and blocked traffic in Egypt's Suez Canal, move past after it was set free by salvage teams. AP Photo -
People watch as the container ship 'Ever Given' is refloated, unblocking the Suez Canal in Suez, Egypt. This morning the container ship came partly unstuck from the shoreline, where it ran aground in the canal last Tuesday, and later resumed its course shortly after 3pm local time. Getty Images -
A view of the Panama-flagged MV 'Ever Given' (operated by Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine) container ship, a 400-metre- (1,300-foot-)long and 59-metre wide vessel, as it remains lodged sideways impeding traffic across Egypt's Suez Canal waterway. AFP -
Ship Ever Given, one of the world's largest container ships, is seen after it was fully floated in Suez Canal, Egypt. Suez Canal Authority/Handout via Reuters -
The container ship 'Ever Given' is refloated, unblocking the Suez Canal in Suez, Egypt. This morning the container ship came partly unstuck from the shoreline, where it ran aground in the canal last Tuesday, and later resumed its course shortly after 3pm local time. Getty Images -
The container ship 'Ever Given' is moving in the Suez Canal, Egypt. The Suez Canal Authority on 29 March said that traffic is to resume after the large container ship 'Ever Given' was refloated. EPA
“The Suez Canal is not to blame for the incident,” Adm Osama Rabie, the canal authority’s chairman, told a news conference late on Monday night.
“We are the affected party,” he added, saying the canal suffered $12-15 million in lost revenues each day of the blockage.
The authority has earlier said that strong wind during a sandstorm had blown the vessel off course.
On Saturday, Adm Rabie said he could not rule out human error or technical fault, but refused to draw conclusions, saying a thorough investigation will reveal the guilty parties.
In an apparent attempt to deflect possible blame from the two canal authority pilots who were onboard the Ever Given at the time it ran aground, he said the pair were among the most experienced pilots that were available.
“The accident showed the world the importance of the Suez Canal after some people spoke about alternative routes," he said.
"The Suez Canal remains the shortest and safest waterway and the one that offers the best services in the world.”
That sentiment was echoed by President Abdel Fatah El Sisi on Tuesday, when he met with Adm Rabie and canal employees to thank them for what he described as a “spectacular show of massive resources and capabilities.”
‘There is a silver lining in what happened. It alerted people to the large and important role played by the canal … This is an international facility for global commerce that has been enshrined in the consciousness of world trade for 150 or 160 years.” The canal was inaugurated in 1869.
By Monday afternoon, 422 vessels were stuck in the canal or anchored in open sea near the waterway’s Mediterranean and Red Sea entrances waiting to sail through. On Tuesday, Adm Rabie said traffic resumed at the canal at 6 PM on Monday, 15 minutes after the Ever Given arrived at the Great Bitter Lake.
Since then, he said, 113 vessels transited the canal and 140 more, more than double the normal daily traffic in the waterway, were expected to follow suit on Tuesday.
That figure, said Adm Rabie, testified to the popularity of the canal. He said the alternative route between Asia and Europe around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope was 10,000 miles longer, takes two more weeks to complete when compared with the use of the canal. "It is not safe either," he said.
Adm Rabie said the salvage operation was the first of its kind in the world; to refloat a vessel of Ever Given's size without offloading its cargo.
The 400-metre vessel has a cargo of nearly 20,000 containers.
Helped by the peak of high tide, a flotilla of tugboats managed to wrench the bulbous bow of the skyscraper-sized Ever Given from the canal's sandy bank, where it had been lodged since March 23.
The results of the inspection of the Ever Given at the Great Bitter Lake will determine whether the ship can resume its scheduled service. Once it is complete, a decision and arrangements will be made about the cargo on board.
The first vessels to sail through the waterway after the canal reopened for traffic at 6pm on Monday were YM Wish, Maersk Emeraldas and Ever Globe.
The planned number of vessels to sail through the canal per day has yet to be set by the Suez Canal Authority but maritime expert Ranjith Raja, head of Mena Oil and Shipping Research data company Refinitiv, said 90 to 100 ships a day was possible.
That would be roughly double the usual daily average of about 50.
Refinitiv estimated it could take more than 10 days to clear the backlog of ships.
Seventeen tugboats and support vessels were involved in the last big effort to move the ship on Monday afternoon.
Video shared online early on Monday purported to show the moments after the boat was refloated, with Suez Canal authority personnel heard rejoicing and shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great).
The tugs included the Dutch-registered Alp Guard and the Italian-registered Carlo Magno, according to Leth Agencies. The two vessels arrived at the canal over the past 24 hours.
