Suez Canal blockage could last 'days to weeks': Update

Adds list of ships awaiting transit

Dutch marine infrastructure company Royal Boskalis Westminster — one of the salvage firms called to the rescue of a giant container ship stuck in the Suez Canal — has warned that it could take "days to weeks to solve the issue".

The 400m-long Ever Given is still blocking the critical waterway, which links the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, after running aground in the canal's northbound lane at 07:40 local time (05:40 GMT) on 23 March. Royal Boskalis Westminster chief executive Peter Berdowski said it is too early to assess the exact timing but added that it is almost impossible to refloat the 199,489 deadweight tonne (dwt) ship because it is too heavy. The firm will try to get rid of as much weight on the ship as possible, which includes emptying oil tanks as well as removing the water aboard and potentially offloading some of the containers, Berdowski said.

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) — the firm managing the Ever Given — said efforts to refloat the ship intensified today. Another attempt to free the vessel will be made later today, after one failed this morning. "Dredging operations to assist refloating the vessel continue. In addition to the dredgers already on site, a specialised suction dredger has arrived at the location," BSM said.

Earlier today, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) officially suspended navigation.

The canal is an important chokepoint for oil and gas movements.

Shipping agent Leth Agencies said that there are 156 vessels, including 21 crude and products tankers, awaiting transit through the canal. They are split between the Port Said anchorage at the north end of the canal, the Great Bitter Lake and the Suez anchorage at the south end (see table).

Navigation should resume when the Ever Given is refloated, SCA said, but it is unclear when this will be. Japanese shipowner Shoei Kisen, which owns the giant container ship, described the situation as "extremely difficult". The uncertainty around the reopening of the waterway could prompt some charterers to reroute their crude and oil products cargoes around the Cape of Good Hope, which would increase freight costs. But going around the Cape is significantly longer and charterers might opt to wait for the blockage to be cleared.

By Caroline Varin, Kevin Foster, Florence Schmit and Will Collins