Ever Given sets sail after deal signed

The 20,000 TEU containership Ever Given is finally leaving the Suez Canal.

A formal settlement was agreed earlier this week and the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said that the vessel would be allowed to sail today.

The vessel, one of the world’s largest container ships, had become wedged diagonally across the southernmost, single-lane stretch of the canal for six days in March, disrupting global trade.

The Ever Given is still loaded with about 18,300 containers and is to be escorted along the canal by two tugboats.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed but Egypt had demanded $550m (£397m).

For the refloating of the 224,000-ton container vessel, approximately 30,000 cubic meters of sand was dredged to help free the vessel and a total of eleven harbor tugs and two powerful seagoing tugs (Alp Guard and Carlo Magna) were deployed.

The intense salvage effort has focused on removing sand from below the front and rear of the ship, while also pulling the ship with tugboats.

One person was killed during the operation.

Workers managed to free the rear part of the ship first, swinging the stern into the canal while the bow was still stuck in the sloping sand that forms the side of the canal.