The situation at the Suez Canal, which has triggered a lot of anxiety and fears in the global shipping market within the past week, seems finally to have been normalized. According to the latest update, Ever Given, the vessel that had been stuck across the canal, has finally been refloated.
While previously it had been said that the refloating of Ever Given could take weeks or even months, the ship has been moved with the help of 13 tugboats and dredgers, which had dug 30,000 cubic meters of mud and sand from beneath the ends of the ship. As a result, the vessel was freed and towed to the Great Bitter Lake where it will undergo an inspection in order to determine whether it can resume its scheduled service.
As a result, sailing operations in the Suez Canal are set to return to normal shortly, thus minimizing the threats to the global shipping industry. Still, the negative impact of higher freight rates and delays on cargo deliveries will be felt, specifically taking into account that there is a long queue of ships waiting to pass through the canal. Some ships had already left the region earlier as they preferred to re-route around South Africa. In addition, since the delays in deliveries, the ports of destination expect to experience congestions. The same issue will be faced by the Suez Canal Authority as most ships will be let through on a first-come-first-served basis.