ZAAFARANA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th March, 2021) The blockage of the Suez Canal by a giant container ship is causing a traffic jam of vessels that can be seen 65 kilometers (40 miles) from the canal's southern entrance in the Red Sea, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Sunday.
The line of at least 15 waiting cargo ships and barges can be seen from the shore between the Egyptian cities of Ain Sokhna and Zaafarana. According to the VesselFinder tracking website, there are dozens of more ships jammed on the other side.
The Red Sea is hit by a storm with high winds of 35 kilometers per hour and waves reaching up to several meters.
The Suez Canal has been blocked since Tuesday, when the 224,000-tonne and 400 meters-long (1,300 feet) container ship, Ever Given, ran aground on its way from China to the Netherlands amid strong winds and a sandstorm that affected visibility. Several attempts have been made to move it and the ship even budged a little on Friday.
Osama Rabie, the head of the Suez Canal authority, said earlier on Sunday that 369 vessels were waiting to pass through.
In the early hours of Sunday, a source in the Suez Canal Authority told Sputnik that an attempt to move the stranded ship had failed, and another one would be made during high tide later in the day.
