TRAFFIC RESUMED IN THE SUEZ CANAL
After blocking the canal for a week, the stranded container is finally freed by salvage crews and the traffic has resumed.
Tug boats honked their horns in celebration as the 400m-long (1,300ft) Ever Given was dislodged with the help of dredgers and tug boats.
Hundreds of ships are waiting to pass through the canal which links the Mediterranean to the Red Sea via Egypt.
It is one of the world’s busiest trade routes.
The tugs struggled in their attempts to move the ship through the week, dredgers were brought in to dig mud and sand from under the bow and stern of the ship.
These dredgers are a familiar sight on the Suez Canal, said maritime expert Sal Mercogliano, and are used to continually dredge the waterway to keep it navigable.
“Large machines stick down into the water and basically pull dirt up from the bottom, which you can then deposit onshore.”
For almost a week, it was lodged diagonally on one of the world’s key shipping lanes, causing traffic to build up and other ships to be rerouted. Now, after an operation involving tug boats and dredging, the vessel is fully refloated and heading north.
