Saturday 06 / December / 2025
The Ever Given ship was successfully turned by an Egyptian crew in the Suez Canal early Monday morning, after it was stuck for nearly a week, according to canal authorities.
The massive ship's grounding impeded international trade, resulting in a pileup with hundreds of vessels in the canal.
What is the latest?
The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) confirmed in a statement that the ship is now partially floated and turned in the "right direction." Canal service firms and maritime service providers previously reported the ship was once again afloat.
The authority's chief, Osama Rabie, said workers used "pulling maneuvers" to move the ship.
The shipping traffic monitoring site, MarieTraffic.com, said satellite data showed the ship's bow has been moved, but there is "still some work to do."
Videos posted by several reporters on Twitter showed tug boat teams celebrating as the front of the ship appeared to be moving in the canal once again.
Other videos showed the ship positioned straight in the canal, no longer fully wedged across.
Excavators have been working around the clock to dig out and vacuum up a massive amount of sand and mud around the ship, while tug boat crews have been working to reposition it.
What happens next?
The SCA said tug boat teams will resume work again later this morning when water levels in the canal rise in a bid to completely free the stuck ship.
The process "will resume when water flow increases again from 11:30 local time [0930 UTC/GMT]... in order to completely refloat the vessel, so as to reposition it in the middle of the waterway."
Officials say the high tide should enable tug teams to pull the boat further into the center of the canal.
It's still unclear when the canal will reopen for traffic now that the vessel has been dislodged, but officials voiced hope for clearing the backlogged ships over the next three days.
Egypt's Sisi praises efforts
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi also hailed the "success" of the operation, after the Suez Canal Authority said the ship had been moved to point "80%" in the right direction.
"Today, Egyptians have been successful in putting to an end the crisis of the stranded ship in the Suez Canal, despite the tremendous technical complexity that surrounded this process from every side," Sissi said on Twitter. "By restoring matters to their normal course, with Egyptian hands, the whole world will be assured of the path of its goods."
How did the Ever Given get stuck?
On March 23, the Ever Given was passing through a single-lane portion of the Suez Canal when it veered off course during a sandstorm.
Although authorities had blamed strong winds for the ship's grounding last Tuesday, Transport Authority chief Rabie had believed it could have been possibly due to "human error."
The 400-meter (430-yard) long Ever Given was en route from Malaysia to the Netherlands when it got stuck.
The ship, registered in Panama, is owned by Japanese company Imabari Shipbuilding and operated by shipping firm Evergreen Marine.
What has the impact been?
The skyscraper-sized ship has effectively brought a key global shipping route to a halt. The Suez Canal is the shortest route between Europe and Asia, connecting the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.
The blockage has been holding up some $9 billion (€7.6 billion) in global trade every day since the ship became wedged in the canal.
At least 300 other cargo vessels — carrying goods from crude oil to cattle and sheep — have been waiting for days to pass through the canal.
With concerns mounting about when the ship would be freed, at least two dozen other vessels decided to use an alternate route — sailing around the continent of Africa and sailing around the Cape of Good Hope. The detour will add around two weeks to the ships' journeys and impact delivery delays.
