Maritime services provider Inchcape said the ship is being secured. Ten tug boats participated in the refloating operation, the Suez Canal Authority said earlier. The breakthrough in the rescue attempt came after diggers removed 27 000 cubic meters of sand, going deep into the banks of the canal.

While the ship is at least partly floating again, it wasn’t immediately clear how soon the waterway would be open to traffic, or how long it will take to clear the logjam of more than 450 ships stuck, waiting and en route to the Suez.

The Suez Canal Authority released footage on Sunday showing workers fighting to free the #EverGiven by removing part of the canal's bank.

“The coming 24 hours will be crucial,” said Peter Berdowski of Boskalis, which is part of the salvage effort https://t.co/keZiFiLQwU pic.twitter.com/11E82t2YeK

— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) March 28, 2021

The backlog is one more strain for global supply chains already stretched by the pandemic as the canal is a conduit for about 12% of global trade. Some ships have already opted for the long and expensive trip around the southern tip of Africa instead of Suez.

Oil retreated as salvage teams freed the giant container vessel that had been blocking the Suez Canal, and traders weighed the impact of renewed lockdowns on global demand before an OPEC+ policy meeting. West Texas Intermediate lost as much as 1.9%, while Brent fell. Crude has been hit by rising volatility in recent sessions, with WTI swinging between gains and losses last week.

The Ever Given experienced strong winds and gusts in excess of 35 to 40 miles an hour around the time of its grounding in the Suez Canal according to an analysis from weather technology company ClimaCell. Conditions may have made the 400-meter long vessel more difficult to manoeuvre or kicked up desert sand reducing visibility, Chief Scientist Daniel Rothenberg said in an email. “Such strong winds happen infrequently — only once every few years — in our historical analysis,” he said.

The number of ships waiting to enter the Suez Canal now exceeds the size of the entire US Navy fleet. Data compiled by Bloomberg show there are 453 vessels queued up Sunday, compared with around 100 at the start of the blockage.

Bulk carriers typically hauling commodities such as grains, coal and iron ore account for the biggest share of the vessels stuck in and around the canal. The data also indicate as many as 15 vessels that could be carrying thousands of livestock.

About 200 000 animals could be stranded in the ships held up at the canal, according to an estimate from advocacy group Animals International. The group has tallied 18 vessels that departed Romania, Spain and South America and are currently stuck in the queue. Many are likely carrying sheep, said European Union director Gabriel Paun. Vessels can’t easily unload animals in other nearby countries due to health protocols or a lack of trade agreements, he said.

“It’s just another incident which shows that no matter which contingency plan you design, tragedies may occur over and over as long as we don’t replace the export of live animals with the export of refrigerated and frozen meat,” Paun said.

The ship’s front, or bow, was damaged and water entered two tanks, according to a spokesman for Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the vessel’s manager.

High-powered pumps were used to get the water out the compartments and the vessel is stable, said the spokesman. Once the Ever Given’s moved, there will be an assessment to determine whether it’s fit to leave the canal. There’s nothing at the moment to suggest it won’t be able to sail out the waterway, the spokesman said.

Moneyweb/Bloomberg