EVER GIVEN successfully refloated, normal transits of Suez Canal resume

Evergreen Line yesterday confirmed that its vessel EVER GIVEN was successfully refloated within the Suez Canal at approximately 15:04 29 March local time. 

In order for the Canal to resume normal operation, the vessel is leaving the grounding site with the assistance of tugboats.

The ship had been blocking the busy waterway for almost a week with more than 400 ships waiting to pass through.

EVER GIVEN is a 20,000 TEU-class container ship, currently leased by Evergreen Marine Corp. under a time charter agreement. The ship is deployed on a Far East-Europe service route.

The chartered vessel will be repositioned to the Great Bitter Lake in the Canal for an inspection of its seaworthiness. The outcome of that inspection will determine whether the ship can resume its scheduled service. Once the inspection is finalised, decisions will be made regarding arrangements for cargo currently on board.

Evergreen said it was most grateful to the Suez Canal Authority and all the concerned parties for their assistance and support through this difficult and unfortunate situation. It also expressed deepest appreciation to the crew who remain steadfast in their posts as well as the salvage experts and dredging team for their professionalism and relentless efforts over the past six days toward securing this outcome.

“Evergreen will coordinate with the ship owner to deal with subsequent matters after the ship owner and other concerned parties complete investigation reports into the incident,” the carrier said in a statement.