The blocking of the Suez Canal by the container ship Ever Given is an accident. This was announced on March 29 at a press conference by the head of the administration of the channel, Osama Rabia.
He noted that such a complex emergency could arise for several reasons, “these are technical reasons, and a human error.”
“Thousands of ships pass the channel regularly, and there have been no such incidents. The current incident is an accident, ”Rabia emphasized.
According to him, they intend to remove the “plug” from the ships in three – three and a half days, the Suez Canal will operate around the clock.
He also added that he was not aware of the changed course of the ships that were queuing up the canal.
“The Suez Canal remains a safe route,” Rabia said.
At the same press conference, the head of the Suez Strait administration indirectly blamed the incident on the captain of the container ship Ever Given. He noted that strong winds never closed the channel.
Earlier on Monday, Admiral Mohab Mamish, Admiral Mohab Mamish, Adviser to the President of Egypt for the Development of Seaports and the Suez Canal, also said that the captain of the ship Ever Given was responsible for the incident in the canal. He noted that the country’s authorities will demand compensation from the owner of the container ship.
On March 23, the Panama-flagged container ship Ever Given ran aground in the south of the Suez Canal, blocking traffic. The ship’s operating company Shohei Kisen attributed the incident to strong winds.
It was noted that the vessel contains more than 20 thousand heavy containers, which were transported from China to the Dutch port of Rotterdam. This is one of the largest vessels in its class, with a length of 400 m and a width of 59 m.
The container ship was refloated on March 29. The vessel, with the help of tugs, began to move northward towards the lakes for technical inspection.
The Egyptian Embassy in Russia said that traffic on the Suez Canal was restored. As the press secretary of the diplomatic mission Ahmed Abd Almoez emphasized, the passage of the detained ships will take three days.