Regular Ships’ Flow Through Suez Canal For Third Day

republicworld– Several large cargo ships passed through the Suez Canal for third day after the Ever Given, a massive container ship stuck in the waterway for days, was finally wrenched free.

Associated Press video shows the ships on Thursday moving down the canal from north to south.

Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, said during a ceremony in honour of the salvage team that “So far, 194 ships with a total tonnage of 12 million tons have crossed the Suez Canal, starting from Monday evening until Wednesday, and today, Thursday, 87 ships are scheduled to pass.”

As convoys of ships again began travelling through the artery linking the Mediterranean and Red Seas, a canal service provider said that 249 vessels carrying everything from crude oil to cattle were still waiting for their turn in a process that will take days.

The grounding of the ship had halted billions of dollars a day in maritime commerce.

Analysts expect it could take at least another 10 days to clear the backlog — though Egypt’s president, who spoke at the canal on Tuesday, said it would take just three.

The unprecedented shutdown, which raised fears of extended delays, goods shortages and rising costs for consumers, added to strain on the shipping industry already under pressure from the coronavirus pandemic.