A giant container ship remained stuck sideways Friday in Egypt's Suez Canal, as authorities race to free the vessel and reopen traffic in a crucial East-West waterway for global shipping.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
The Ever Given, a Panama-flagged ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground Tuesday in the narrow, man-made canal dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula.
The ship, owned by Japanese firm Shoei Kisen KK, has blocked traffic in the canal, leaving dozens of smaller ships stranded in the Mediterranean and Red Seas.
The vessel's bow was touching the eastern wall, while its stern appeared lodged against the western wall – an extraordinary event that experts said they had never heard of happening before in the canal's 150-year history.
The ship ran aground some 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) north of the southerly mouth of the canal, near the city of Suez, an area of the canal that's a single lane.
