Society

Container ship stranded in Suez Canal freed

Mar 30 (NHK) - Authorities in Egypt say a huge container ship that ran aground in the Suez Canal almost a week ago has been freed. Traffic through the canal is expected to resume following safety checks along the waterway.

The ship got stuck in the key waterway last Tuesday. It is owned by Shoei Kisen, based in the western Japanese prefecture of Ehime, and is operated by a Taiwanese company.

In the early hours of Monday, workers from the Suez Canal Authority resumed efforts to refloat the vessel using 10 tug boats. Hours later, the authority announced that they had succeeded in freeing the ship.

Since the blockage happened, more than 360 vessels have been waiting to pass through the canal, a vital trade route linking Asia and Europe.

On average, about 50 vessels per day use the canal. Even if the traffic is resumed, it will likely take time to clear the congestion, which means that the effects on global cargo shipping may linger for some time.

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