Hapag-Lloyd suggests Ever Given freed

Shipping line Hapag-Lloyd has informed its customers this morning that the Ever Given has been freed from its position blocking the Suez Canal and will be towed today at high tide to the Great Bitter Lake for inspection.

Following an inspection of the canal’s banks at the incident site, shipping traffic is expected to resume this evening.

Hapag-Lloyd said in a note to customers it does not know if any vessels will be prioritized for passage. Earlier reports suggested that several of the waiting ships were carrying livestock and should receive priority.

The backlog of more than 320 ships is expected to be cleared within four days, the liner company said.

Currently, the following Hapag-Lloyd vessels are waiting to continue their journey through the canal:

• “Tsingtao Express” waiting in outer anchorage in Port Said (IOS Service eastbound)
• “Salahuddin” waiting in outer anchorage in Port Said (MD2 Service eastbound)
• “Athenian” waiting in outer anchorage in Port Said (TPI Service eastbound)
• “Al Rawdah” scheduled to reach Suez Canal tonight (IOS Service westbound)
• “New York Express” locked in at Great Bitter Lake (MD1 eastbound)
• “Warnow Master” waiting in outer anchorage in Suez (FE4 westbound)
• “Tokyo Bay” (IEX Port Said eastbound)
• “Barzan” (FE2 Suez westbound)
• “Laila” (FE4 Port Said eastbound)

As well, Hapag-Lloyd noted its containers are also aboard six of its partners’ vessels that have been rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope.