Suez Canal update: Ever Given successfully refloated

After being stranded in the Suez Canal for almost a week, the MV Ever Given was successfully re-floated this morning.

“Having removed more than 20,000 tons of sand and mud, the dredging operation underway has succeeded in loosening the Ever Given’s bow within the bank of the Suez Canal and the ship’s stern has been cleared from the sand bank,” said Evergreen Marine – the ship’s owner.

The Ever Given ran aground in the Egyptian canal on March 23.

A massive effort to salvage the ship has focused on dredging sand from below the front and rear of the ship, before pulling the ship with tugboats.

Gusting winds of 30 knots and poor visibility due to a dust storm are believed to be the likely cause of the grounding, which left the boxship stuck sideways in a narrow point of the waterway.