Ever Given, the container ship that is stuck in the Suez Canal since March 23 blocking traffic in one of the world's busiest waterways has all Indian crew. The crew is safe said the company managing the container.
In a report, news agency The Associated Press said Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the company that manages the Ever Given, said the ship's 25-member crew is safe and accounted for.
Apart from the Indian crew, the ship had two pilots from Egypt's canal authority aboard the vessel to guide it when the grounding happened around 7:45 am on Tuesday.
Company's owner Shoei Kisen Kaisha said, "All the crew came from India", adding that it is safe and the company is "trying to resolve the situation as soon as possible, but it proving to be extremely difficult".
On Tuesday, the 400 metre-long Ever Given got stuck diagonally across the Suez Canal, reportedly due to a major dust storm and strong winds.
As per a news report, at least 150 ships are currently waiting to pass through the Suez Canal.
The significance of the Suez Canal for international trade acoounts majorly as nearly 12 per cent of global trade passes through this narrow canal connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.
The canal provides the shortest sea link between Asia and Europe. Expert say, in case traffic in the canal isn't restored soon, ship operators will have little option other than to take the alternative route that involves travelling around the cape of good Hope, Africa's southernmost tip, and then to Europe. This route would increase the travel time by approximately two weeks.
The Ever Given is a Panama-flagged ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe. On Tuesday, it ran aground in the narrow, man-made Suez Canal dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula.
Since then, efforts to free the ship using dredgers, digging and the aid of high tides have yet to push the container vessel aside - affecting billions of dollars' worth of cargo.
In a sign of the global turmoil that the blockage has caused, the ship's Japanese owner even offered a written apology on Thursday for the incident.
(With Agency Inputs)
