Suez Canal blocked: how Egypt is moving a 220,000-tonne monster ship

A gargantuan effort is underway to shift the stranded behemoth blocking vital waterway

The stranded container ship Ever Given, one of the world's largest container ships, after it ran aground in Suez Canal, Egypt. Reuters

The stranded container ship Ever Given after it ran aground in Suez Canal. Reuters

A tugboat by the Panama-flagged MV Ever Given container ship. AFP

Tugboats by the Panama-flagged MV Ever Given. AFP

Tugboats by the Panama-flagged MV Ever Given. AFP

The Ever Given container ship which ran aground in the Suez Canal, Egypt. EPA

Ever Given container ship is pictured in Suez Canal in this Maxar Technologies satellite image. Reuters

A view of the earth moving equipment excavating sand near the bow of the Ever Given container ship in Suez Canal in this Maxar Technologies satellite image. Reuters

A view of the dredging operations which continue near the Ever Given container ship in Suez Canal in this Maxar Technologies satellite image. Reuters

Egyptian officials oversee the operation to free Taiwan-owned cargo MV Ever Given after it become stuck in the Suez Canal. AFP

Egyptian officials oversee the operation to free Taiwan-owned cargo MV Ever Given after it become stuck in the Suez Canal. AFP

Egyptian tug boats try to free the ship. AFP

Egyptian tug boats try to free the ship. AFP

Egyptian tug boats try to free the ship. AFP

The ship is shown lodged sideways. AFP

All movement in the canal comes to a standstill. AFP

A satellite image of the Ever Given. AP

A satellite image of the Ever Given. AP

Stranded container ship Ever Given, one of the world's largest container ships, is seen after it ran aground, in Suez Canal, Egypt in this still image taken from a video. Reuters

Egypt's Suez Canal authorities are redirecting shipping traffic on Wednesday after a 200,000-tonne container ship 'MV Ever Given' ran aground and blocked the canal's main channel. Reuters

Recovery teams are surveying the 'MV Ever Given', which ran aground in the Suez Canal on Tuesday as it headed for the Mediterranean after leaving the Red Sea. Its destination is Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Reuters

Lt Gen Osama Rabei, head of the Suez Canal Authority, second right, assesses the 'MV Ever Given' from the bridge of a cutter. AP Photo

This satellite image from Planet Labs shows the cargo ship 'MV Ever Given', stuck in the Suez Canal. AP Photo

This satellite image from Planet Labs shows the cargo ship 'MV Ever Given', grounded in the Suez Canal since Tuesday. AP

One of the world's largest container ships, officially classed as Ultra Large got stuck on Tuesday as it struggled through a sandstorm while transiting the Suez canal. It battled poor visibility and, possibly, a failure of its navigation equipment caused by a power failure.

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The Panama-flagged Ever Given found itself stuck at 90 degrees in the canal, blocking hundreds of ships trying to transit the trade artery.

The ship's gargantuan Golden-Class container vessel engines – capable of generating a total of 80,000 horsepower – were of little use getting it free.

Egyptian authorities first said on Wednesday that it may take two days to move the ship. Yet, within hours, the ship was partially refloated and although it is yet to be cleared progress is being made.

This has not been sufficient to fully open the channel however and there are now fears the shipping route will be partially shut for days or even weeks.

Here is how Egyptian authorities are working around the clock to free the vessel and get trade flowing again.

Tugs and dredgers from Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority are doing the heavy lifting to try and defy expectations of a lengthy canal closure.

“To get her back in the right direction, they clearly need a lot of tugs. It initially looked like it would take a few days; hence shipping rates and oil went up in the short term,” said Dean Mikkelson, a maritime security analyst.

“Convoys and traffic are expected to resume as soon as the vessel is towed to another position,” read a statement from the ship’s owner, on Wednesday afternoon.

Witnesses reported trade vessels starting to make the journey shortly after, but this has been intermittent.

Mr Mikkelson said a “worst-case scenario” could involve extensive dredging and, potentially, removing some of the ship’s 20,000 metal cargo containers.

“There are tides on this side of the canal due to the Red Sea,” he said, noting that if the ship was trapped farther into the canal, it could have been a disaster.

Mr Mikkelson cautions that further complications lie ahead.

"I can't see how they could do a ship-to-ship transfer of the containers, because there is too much traffic already to the south and north of the Ever Given," he said.

"Tide and tugs makes the most sense."

Soon enough, a flotilla of small tugs arrived, the most powerful of which, the Baraka 1, equipped with almost 16,000 horsepower, or 130 tonnes of "bollard pull" – the standardised measure of how much a tug can pull.

Tugs Mosaed Two and Mosaed Three soon followed, with an additional 140 tonnes of bollard pull combined, according to details on the Suez canal authority website.

They are much smaller than the most powerful tug in the world, the Far Sampson, designed by British company Rolls Royce, that has a bollard pull of 423 tonnes.

At the front of the vessel, excavators removed earth from the channel to help free up the ship's stem so that it could pivot in the waterway.

Between this and the tugs, they managed to free the massive container ship despite the assembled pulling vessels having only a fraction of the force needed to tow such a goliath.

Low tides overnight Wednesday slowed work but authorities said they hope to be done on Thursday, when tides are higher.

While other ships can soon pass, it is unclear when the Even Given will continue its journey.

A tough struggle lies ahead for the Egyptians to fully move the vessel.