Suez Canal is finally open again after giant vessel that had blocked it for week is refloated. The 220,000-ton Ever Given container ship managed to get wedged between both sides of strategic waterway last week. The subsequent blockage disrupted global trade and international markets. Analysts forecast it has cost Egypt $100 million in lost revenue. week-long jam means there is backlog of ships waiting to sail through canal. More than 450 ships are anchored in Red Sea or in the Mediterranean near both ends of canal. Authorities say they will try and double daily average of 50 ships to pass through the channel to around 90 to 100 vessels.
There has been monumental effort over past week to free the 400-metre-long Ever Given. Dredgers have been clearing sand underneath it in attempt to refloat it, and flotilla of 30 tug boats worked to pull it away from the canal's banks. They were helped by high tide in the final hours of the salvage operation. Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El Sisi thanked everyone who took part in effort to refloat the ship. On social media, he said the refloating was successful despite there being "massive technical complexity". He added: "The world can now rest assured about passage of goods through this pivotal shipping route. Egyptians today proved that they are always up to challenge."
