US Navy ready to help free cargo ships blocking the Suez Canal

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The US Navy is ready to do everything possible to help float this boat.

The navy could be called in to free the grounded container ship that has blocked the Suez Canal and paused world trade since Tuesday.

“A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Navy was willing to send a team of dredging experts to the canal, but was awaiting approval from local authorities,” Reuters reported this morning.

The cargo ship Ever Given, registered in Panama and under German management, weighs about 224,000 tons and is 1,300 feet long, roughly the height of the Empire State Building.

It was forced aground by high winds. Several attempts to free the ship have since failed, although the ship first departed Saturday morning, Egyptian authorities said.

A crew using digging equipment is attempting to excavate Ever Given, a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship wedged across the Suez Canal, blocking traffic on the vital waterway.
A crew using digging equipment is attempting to excavate Ever Given, a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship wedged across the Suez Canal, blocking traffic on the vital waterway.
Suez Canal Authority via AP

“Today we managed to create a space with a depth of 18 meters and we think we can return the vessel to service by today,” said Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, in a press conference today. .

According to the Jerusalem Post, about 12 percent of world trade goes through the Suez.

The Ever Given, one of the world's largest container ships, can be seen on March 26 after it ran aground in the Suez Canal.
The Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container ships, can be seen on March 26 after it ran aground in the Suez Canal.
SCA via Reuters

The Ever Given was involved in a collision with a ferry in Hamburg, Germany in 2019, an accident also attributed to wind.

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