DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – A giant backhoe and a squadron of tugboats look minuscule against the cargo ship’s bulk, demonstrating the enormity of the challenge at hand: freeing the wedged, skyscraper-sized container ship that has blocked the entire width of the Suez Canal and created a major traffic jam on one of the world’s most crucial trade routes.
The tugs and diggers toiled on Thursday as over 150 vessels carrying goods to destinations across the world on tight schedules remained trapped on either end of the canal, which links the Mediterranean and Red Seas.
Over its 150-year history, Egypt’s Suez Canal has seen wars and crises – but nothing quite like the stranding of the Ever Given.
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?
That remains murky. The vessel entered the canal from the Red Sea on Tuesday morning and ran aground 45 minutes later.