Relief and joy as Ever Given gets going; Sisi hails success

Today, Egyptians have been successful in puting an end to the crisis of the stranded ship in the Suez Canal, despite the enormous complexity surrounding the process: President

Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Al Sisi on Monday hailed the “success” of an operation to unwedge the giant Ever Given container ship, stuck in the Suez Canal for nearly a week.

“Today, Egyptians have been successful in putting to an end the crisis of the stranded ship in the Suez Canal, despite the enormous complexity surrounding the process,” Sisi said on Twitter.

The MV Ever Given was refloated and the Suez Canal reopened to traffic on Monday, sparking relief almost a week after the huge container ship got stuck and blocked a major artery for global trade.

Tugboat crews sounded their foghorns in celebration after the Japanese-owned cargo mega-ship the length of four football fields were fully dislodged from the banks of the Suez.

World oil prices eased on the news of the reopening of the wafterway that connects the Mediterranean and the Red Sea and through which more than 10 per cent of world trade passes.

The head of the Suez Canal Authority, Admiral Osama Rabie, had around 3 pm local time (1300 GMT) “announced the resumption of shipping traffic in the Suez Canal,” the authority said.