Efforts to dislodge the huge container ship stuck in the Suez Canal intensified Saturday as the backlog of ships at either end of the crucial waterway grew, heightening concerns over the impact of the blockage on global supply chains. The Ever Given, a container ship almost as long as the Empire State Building is tall, ran aground in the Egyptian canal on Tuesday after being caught in 40-knot winds and a sandstorm. Since then, dredgers have been working to remove vast quantities of sand and mud from around the port side of the 224,000-ton vessel's bow. A senior Suez Canal pilot told CNN the gigantic container ship could be dislodged by Saturday evening. The pilot — who is not authorized to speak to the media but works for the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) — believes that several factors are now contributing to the anticipated success of the rescue operation including the near completion of the dredging work, the expected high tides and the availability of powerful tug boats. High tide, expected at 10 p.m. local (4 p.m. ET), is an important factor in the rescue operation. Several other attempts over the past few days have failed. A team of expert salvagers from Dutch firm SMIT Salvage and Japan's Nippon Salvage — who have worked on several high-profile operations in the past —have been appointed to help the SCA refloat the ship, the charter company Evergreen Marine said in a statement. Authorities say they have managed to remove almost 706,000 cubic feet of sand to free the Ever Given. Asked if authorities had other plans in case of failure, the official told CNN: "This is our only option now." Speaking at a news conference Saturday, SCA chairman Osama Rabie gave details of the rescue operation, which he described as "technically difficult" and "involving many factors." "We are facing a difficult and complicated situation, we work in a rocky soil, the tides are very high, in addition to the huge size of the ship and the number of containers that make it difficult," he said. "We cannot set a specific date for the ship to float, it depends on the ship's response." The ship was "very responsive" on Friday, leading to optimism that the job could be completed that night, he said. However, the operation had to be halted because of the tides. Around 9,000 tons of ballast water have been removed from the ship, Rabie said, with the dredging taking place during low tides while 14 tugs worked during high tides. Rescue teams managed to temporarily restart the rudder and propellers on Friday night before a low tide stalled their efforts, he said. In contrast to the pilot's comment, Rabie outlined another scenario that would require them to lighten the shipload by removing containers, a time-consuming and painstaking process to which they "hopefully" would not have to resort. Around 321 ships are currently waiting to transit through the canal with no detours from inside the channel at this point, he said. Rabie said the reasons behind the accident remain unclear. "There are many factors or reasons, fast winds and the sandstorm could have been a reason but not the main reason — it could have been a technical mistake or human error," he said. "There will be further investigations." Rabie added that a number of countries including the United States, China, Greece and the United Arab Emirates had offered assistance in dislodging the ship. The US Navy in the Middle East planned to send an assessment team of dredging experts to the Suez Canal as soon as Saturday to advise local authorities, according to two US defense officials. The blockage, in what is one of the world's busiest and most important waterways, could have a major impact on already stretched global supply chains, with disruption escalating with each day that passes. Meanwhile, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary General Dr. Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf affirmed the GCC's support for the efforts of Egypt to overcome the crisis in order to resume the navigation traffic in the Suez Canal. He said that the GCC is following up with great interest the efforts being exerted by Egypt to rescue the container ship, which ran aground while going through the Suez Canal. The Arab Parliament too affirmed its support for the Egyptian efforts to resume the navigation traffic in the Suez Canal, after the incident of the giant ship running aground in the Suez Canal. In a statement issued Saturday, the Arab Parliament expressed its confidence in all measures taken by Egypt, its capabilities, its ability to face this exceptional incident, and its keenness to resume the navigation traffic in the Suez Canal. — Agencies
