It’s official: The Ever Given ship is finally free. The task was a gargantuan one, but salvage teams managed to pull through after 6 gruelling days.
The colossal success is expected to pave the way for traffic in the Suez Canal to return to normalcy.
According to an NBC News reporter at the scene, horns were blaring as the Ever Given started to move, as if in celebration.
The vessel is now sailing north of her trapped position as we speak.
At around 9.38pm Singapore time on Monday (29 Mar), the Suez Canal Authority confirmed that the giant Ever Given Ship that blocked the essential waterway for 6 days, is now fully floated.
Traffic is expected to resume after this, though the exact date remains unclear at press time, reports Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
Salvage teams pulled the 220,000-tonne ship over the canal bank, so that authorities can carry out a technical inspection of the vessel.
Satellite data shows that the ship was shifting away from the shoreline.
According to The New York Times, we have the forces of nature, such as the moon, wind and tides to thank, as they were one of the main reasons the rescue mission was a success.
With a full moon lighting up the night sky on Sunday (28 Mar), tugboats could work together with dredgers to pull the ship to the water throughout the night and till Monday morning.
And right before dawn, she eventually regained buoyancy.
Now, thanks to the salvage teams’ tireless efforts, things for the global trading system is looking up.
With each day that passed during the rescue period, economic concerns began to mount as around 12% of global trade pass through the canal daily, reports BBC.
The canal blockage has affected not only the global shipping industry, but also businesses around the world that were waiting to receive goods.
Earlier today (29 Mar), Inchcape Shipping tweeted that the Ever Given was partially refloated, after days of rescue efforts.
According to BBC, salvage teams including tugboats and dredgers have worked on the rescue efforts since Tuesday (23 Mar), when the Ever Given first became stuck.
However, rescue efforts were halted several times.
After refloating operations resumed some 14 hours ago, Inchcape Shipping gave the good news.
Stranded in the Suez Canal for almost a week, the gigantic container ship made the news since last Tuesday (23 Mar) as it blocked off the waterway and halted supply chains globally.
With many diligent workers raced against time to free the vessel, we’re heartened to witness the breakthrough in one of the world’s most intense salvage operations in modern history.
Hopefully, trade can swiftly get underway again and curb what could have been a full-blown economic fallout.
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Featured image adapted from CNN via Twitter.
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