The Suez Canal is still blocked a day after a container ship ran aground and got stuck, despite efforts by tugs to free it. Traffic is backing up, and shipping companies are weighing rerouting ships around Africa, a much longer and costlier route. Read story here. I don’t know how they plan to do this, but I’m thinking if the tugs can’t nudge it free, the two possibilities are (1) dig under it, or (2) unload the cargo to lighten the ship and float it free.
It’s a “Raise the Titanic” moment for the canal’s operators.
Update: Reuters reported on March 24 that 10 tugs are on scene, and “a digger [is] removing earth and rock from the bank of the canal around the ship’s bow” (story here), so it appears they’re trying to dig enough to pull it out.
Photos, above and left: This doesn’t look so good
