CAIRO: Tugs worked on Wednesday to free a giant container ship stuck in the Suez Canal after a gust of wind blew it off course, officials said, creating huge tailbacks on one of the world’s busiest trade routes. “The container accidentally ran aground after a suspected gust of wind hit it,” ship operator Evergreen Marine Corp told AFP. The Suez Canal is one of the world’s most important trade routes, providing passage for 10 percent of all international maritime trade. Nearly 19,000 ships passed through it last year carrying more than one billion tons of cargo, according to the Suez Canal Authority (SCA). President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi unveiled plans in 2015 for an expansion designed to reduce waiting times and double the number of ships using the canal daily by 2023.

Source: Manila Times March 24, 2021 09:22 UTC