Two more tug boats are on the scene of a massive operation in the Suez Canal to dislodge a skyscraper-sized container ship which has blocked shipping traffic for the past six days.
Head of the state Suez Canal Authority (SCA), Osama Rabae, said on Monday (AEDT) two additional tug boats, including a Dutch boat, were due to join the operation.
He said that the propeller and rudder of the 400-metre Panama-flagged ship Ever Given had started to work again after it veered off course in a single-lane stretch of the canal during a sandstorm on March 23.
“The rudder was not moving and it is now moving, the propeller is working now, there was no water underneath the bow, and now there is water under it, and yesterday there was a four-metre deviation in the bow and the stern,” he said.
As the pressure mounts on Egypt to free the stricken vessel, Mr Rabae said the current blockage was costing the canal $US13 million to $US14 million ($18.3 million) in losses per day.
The incident has resulted in a huge tailback, with 369 vessels including 25 oil tankers waiting to pass through the section. More shipping firms are rerouting their vessels away from the waterway as a result.
Mr Rabae hinted that incentives might be offered to those vessels to make up for their losses resulting from the blockage.
“We are thinking of offering some cuts (in fees) to the stranded ships after we finish the issue of the grounded vessel,” Mr Rabae told the Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television.
Ever Given has 18,300 containers on board.
International shipping firm CMA CGM Group said it will divert two vessels around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope to mitigate the impact of the incident on shipments.
Nineteen of its vessels were affected by the blockage, the firm said online.
The firm operates more than 560 vessels worldwide.
The Mediterranean Shipping Company, another large firm, had already announced it would redirect 11 vessels via the Cape of Good Hope.
In a statement, the company said there was “no doubt” the current Suez Canal blockage was going to end up being “one of the biggest disruptions to global trade” in recent years.
But Mr Rabae downplayed talk about shifting to alternative shipping routes.
“The Suez Canal will remain the safest and shortest route. We also provide good services,” he told private Egyptian TV station Extra News.
The official said dredgers and tug boats were working around the clock to free the stuck mega-ship, which has already disrupted supply chains and sent ripples through global markets.
An attempt was made on Saturday night to free the ship making use of the high tide, according to Mr Rabae.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi has ordered preparations for the possibility of reducing the load of containers on the vessel to help free it, Mr Rabae disclosed.
“Shifting to the third scenario (offloading containers) is very difficult and will take a long time. We hope we will not resort to it,” he said.
He sounded optimistic that the current rescue efforts will pay off in a “short time,” although he declined to give a specific time frame.
SCA may seek international assistance if the cargo needs to be offloaded, the official added.
The 193-kilometre Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, providing the shortest shipping route between Asia and Europe.
At least 18,840 ships passed through the canal last year.
The Suez Canal provides one of Egypt’s main sources of income, alongside tourism and remittances from expatriates.
Revenue from the waterway reached $US5.6 billion ($7.3 billion) last year.
-with agencies
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