Dislodging Suez Canal ship said to need at least a week

It could take weeks to free Ever Given ship if cargo needs to be unloaded or extensive repairs made to the canal itself.

Efforts to dislodge the massive Ever Given container vessel blocking the Suez Canal will take until at least next Wednesday, raising the prospect of wider impacts from the incident that’s already impacted the flow of oil to grain and cars. The task of re-floating the 200,000-ton ship, still firmly wedged across the vital maritime trading route, will require about a week of work and potentially longer, said people familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity to discuss private details. Rescue efforts had initially been expected to last only a couple of days. Work since Tuesday by tugs and diggers — equipment that’s tiny in comparison to the 400-meter long vessel — has so far been unsuccessful in attempting to clear the route, and the queue of waiting oceangoing carriers loaded with billions of dollars worth of oil and consumer goods has risen to almost 240 from 186 on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg data.