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