CAIRO:Billions of dollars worth of global cargo began moving again on Monday after a giant container ship that had blocked the Suez Canal for a week was refloated.
“She’s free!” one of the Dutch salvage operators said, and tugboat crews sounded their foghorns in celebration as the ship began moving north at a sedate 1.5 knots toward the Great Bitter Lake, where it will be inspected for damage.
The 400-meter MV Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal early last Tuesday, halting traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia and denying Egypt up to $14 million a day in vital revenue.
Earth diggers, dredgers and powerful tugboats operated non-stop to dislodge the vessel from the rocky sand and clay on the canal banks.
It had been a day of drama, as hope alternated with despair. After dredging and excavation work on Sunday, and helped by a four-meter high lunar tide, workers from the Suez Canal Authority and a team from the Dutch company Smit Salvage partially refloated the ship early on Monday.
However, celebrations were premature. The vessel’s stern swivelled 100 meters into open water, but the bow remained wedged in the canal bank. It was not until late on Monday afternoon that tugs pulled the ship completely clear, into open water.
Smit Salvage said about 30,000 cubic meters of sand was dredged to refloat the 224,000-ton ship, and 11 tugs and two powerful sea tugs were used to pull the vessel free.
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi declared victory. “Today, Egyptians have been successful in putting an end to the crisis of the stranded ship in the Suez Canal, despite the enormous complexity surrounding the process,” he said.
In the small canal-side village of Manchiyet Al-Rougoula, residents watched as the ship began to move. A father and his family climbed to the roof of their red-brick house to get a better view as the vessel, with at least nine levels of containers, slowly passed by.
“We are happy to see the boat move, thank God,” said one resident.
At least 425 cargo vessels have been waiting to transit the canal, including dozens of container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels.
Canal authority chief Adm. Osama Rabie said it would accelerate convoys through the canal now that the Ever Given was freed. “We will not waste one second,” he said.
A canal source said more than 100 ships would be able to enter the channel daily, but it could take up to three days to clear the backlog. Shipping group Maersk said the knock-on disruptions to global shipping could take weeks or months to unravel.
Maritime data company Lloyd’s List said the blockage had held up an estimated $9.6 billion worth of cargo each day between Asia and Europe.
Suez Canal reopens after Ever Given is finally freed
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Suez Canal reopens after Ever Given is finally freed
- $10 billion a day in global cargo moves again after ship blocking canal is refloated
- 13 tugs pull 224,000-ton vessel free after dredgers shift 30,000 cubic meters of sand
At least 47 wounded, mostly by gunfire, as crowd overwhelm aid hub in Gaza
- The UN and other humanitarian organizations have rejected the new system, saying it won’t be able to meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million people
GENEVA: A UN official says 47 Palestinians were wounded, mostly by gunfire, when crowd overran Gaza aid hub.
Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights Office for the Palestinian territories, told reporters in Geneva that it appeared Israeli army fire had caused most of the injuries.
On Tuesday, crowds of Palestinians overwhelmed a new aid distribution hub set up by an Israeli and US-backed foundation. The crowd broke through fences and an Associated Press journalist heard Israeli tank and gun fire, and saw a military helicopter firing flares.
The distribution hub outside Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah was opened the day before by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been slated by Israel to take over aid operations.
The UN and other humanitarian organizations have rejected the new system, saying it won’t be able to meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and allows Israel to use food as a weapon to control the population. They have also warned of the risk of friction between Israeli troops and people seeking supplies.
Palestinians have become desperate for food after nearly three months of Israeli blockade pushed Gaza to the brink of famine.
Gaza rescuers say 16 killed in Israeli strikes Wednesday
- Israel has stepped up its offensive in Gaza this month, aiming for ‘the defeat of Hamas’
- At least 3,822 people had been killed in the territory since Israel ended a ceasefire on March 18
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Gaza rescuers said sixteen people were killed Wednesday in Israeli strikes across the besieged Palestinian territory where Israel intensified its operations this month.
“Sixteen people have been killed as a result of Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip since dawn,” civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said.
Among them, nine belonged to the family of photojournalist Osama Al-Arbeed and were killed in a strike on their home in Gaza’s north at 2:00 a.m., Bassal said.
He added that Arbeed was injured, noting that he is a videographer and editor at a local film production organization.
Another six members of the same family were killed in central Gaza in a strike that left 15 people wounded, “including children.”
One other person, a civilian per Bassal, was killed near the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis.
When contacted by AFP, the Israeli military declined to comment on the strikes, saying it could not do so without precise coordinates.
Israel has stepped up its offensive in Gaza this month, aiming for “the defeat of Hamas,” more than 18 months after the group’s October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.
Some 1,218 people were killed in that attack, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 who the Israeli military says are dead.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Monday that at least 3,822 people had been killed in the territory since Israel ended a ceasefire on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,977, mostly civilians.
UNRWA chief warns of the organization’s dire financial state
- UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini gave his remarks during a press conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo
TOKYO: The chief of the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) on Wednesday said the organization’s financial situation is desperate, adding that it urgently needs support to continue operations past June.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini gave his remarks during a press conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo.
Prabowo: Indonesia may recognize Israel if Palestine gains independence
- The Indonesian President said the two-state solution and the freedom of Palestine is the only way to achieve true peace
- French President Emmanuel Macron also reaffirmed his wish to see a two-state solution
JAKARTA: Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, is willing to recognize and open diplomatic relations with Israel if an independent Palestinian state is recognized by Tel Aviv, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said on Wednesday.
“The two-state solution and the freedom of Palestine is the only way to achieve the true peace. We must acknowledge and guarantee Israel’s rights as a sovereign country that must be paid attention to and guaranteed safety.
Indonesia has stated that once Israel recognizes Palestine, Indonesia is ready to recognize Israel,” he told a news conference.
Standing alongside visiting French President Emmanuel Macron, Prabowo said Israel’s security needs to be guaranteed, and that France would also continue to support steps toward independence for a Palestinian state.
Indonesia does not recognize or share any diplomatic relations with Israel.
French President Emmanuel Macron also reaffirmed his wish to see a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict and said there were no double standards in French policy toward the Middle East.
Macron is leaning toward recognizing a Palestinian state, diplomats and experts say, a move that could infuriate Israel and deepen Western splits.
“Only a political solution will make it possible to restore peace and build for the long term,” Macron said.
“Together with Saudi Arabia, we will soon be organizing a conference on Gaza in New York to give fresh impetus to the recognition of a Palestinian state and the recognition of the State of Israel and its right to live in peace and security in this region.”
US says supports gas deals with Kurdistan region after Iraq lawsuit
- “We encourage Baghdad and Irbil to work together to expand domestic gas production as soon as possible
WASHINGTON: The United States said Tuesday it supported American energy companies’ contracts with Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region after the Iraqi government filed a lawsuit against them.
Regional prime minister Masrour Barzani announced the signing of the two deals valued at tens of billions of dollars during a visit to Washington, in which he met Friday with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rubio in his meeting “commended” the deals with US companies, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters.
“We encourage Baghdad and Irbil to work together to expand domestic gas production as soon as possible. These types of economic partnerships will benefit both the American and Iraqi peoples and help Iraq move toward energy independence,” she said.
“We also believe that US and Iraqi interests are best served by having a strong, resilient Iraqi Kurdistan region within a sovereign and prosperous federal Iraq
“As far as the nature of the lawsuits, obviously we are looking forward to continuing these kinds of deals. We expect these kinds of deals to flourish, and expect and would hope that they would be facilitated,” she said.
