If the Suez Canal had lungs, it would be holding its breath. The MS Ever Given, the cargo ship that decided it liked the Sinai Desert so much it would stay lodged in the canal’s banks for six days in March, is coming back.
Tracking data showed the 400m (1,310ft) cargo container ship off the coast of Yemen last night and steaming northwest towards the Red Sea and Suez. It is expected to arrive at the canal tomorrow evening, according to the VesselFinder.com website.
It is fully laden, bearing tons of consumer goods to Europe from Shanghai.
The plight of the Ever Given made headlines around the world, with 400 other ships caught in giant traffic jams at the northern and southern ends of the canal. Fifteen tug boats and a digger were called in to free it.
About a tenth of all world trade traverses the canal, which had an extra channel added in 2014 for the northern half. The Ever Given, built to the maximum length permitted in the canal, was stuck in the single-lane southern section. After it was freed it was held for three months in the passing area in the middle of the canal while the Egyptian government negotiated compensation for the delays with the owners, Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd of Japan, the shipping giant Evergreen, which leased it, and insurers.
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The ship was travelling faster than permitted when it became stuck. It eventually arrived at Rotterdam and then Felixstowe to unload its cargo, and then returned to the Far East through the canal in August without incident.
