More than 100 ships passed through Suez Canal after shipping restart

A picture released by Egypt's Suez Canal Authority yesterday shows a tugboat pulling the Panama-flagged MV 'Ever Given' container ship after it was fully dislodged from the banks of the Suez. Suez Canal Authority / AFP

More than 100 ships have passed through the Suez Canal in both directions since a giant container ship that had been blocking the waterway was dislodged, Egyptian state TV reported on Tuesday. Nearly 113 vessels had transited the canal by 0600 GMT on Tuesday morning, in line with the canal's previously announced plans, the report said. Shipping convoys through the canal restarted on Monday evening after tugs pulled the 400-metre-long Ever Given container carrier free from the spot where it ran aground on March 23.Stranding showed importance of the Canal: Sisi Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Tuesday that the grounding of Ever Given in the canal had reaffirmed the importance of the waterway. "We didn't hope for something like this, but fate was doing its work. It showed and reaffirmed the reality and importance" of the canal, Sisi said as he greeted staff on a visit to the Suez Canal Authority in Ismailia.