The chairman of the Suez Canal Authority said the waterway's management was not to blame for the ultra-large container ship Ever Given running aground in the canal, blocking traffic for six days.
The 200,000-tonne, Panama-flagged vessel was successfully refloated on Monday, ending the blockage that disrupted global trade and impacted markets.
The vessel ran aground on March 23 at a narrow stretch of the waterway just north of the city of Suez.
After refloating it, the Ever Given was taken to the Great Bitter Lake halfway through the 193-kilometre canal to be inspected for damage.
“The Suez Canal is not to blame for the incident,” Adm Osama Rabie, the canal authority’s chairman, told a news conference late on Monday night.
“We are the affected party,” he added, saying the canal suffered $12-15 million in lost revenues each day of the blockage.
The authority has earlier said that strong wind during a sandstorm had blown the vessel off course.
On Saturday, Adm Rabie said he could not rule out human error or technical fault, but refused to draw conclusions, saying a thorough investigation will reveal the guilty parties.
In an apparent attempt to deflect possible blame from the two canal authority pilots who were onboard the Ever Given at the time it ran aground, he said the pair were among the most experienced pilots that were available.
“The accident showed the world the importance of the Suez Canal after some people spoke about alternative routes," he said.
"The Suez Canal remains the shortest and safest waterway and the one that offers the best services in the world.”
That sentiment was echoed by President Abdel Fatah El Sisi on Tuesday, when he met with Adm Rabie and canal employees to thank them for what he described as a “spectacular show of massive resources and capabilities.”
‘There is a silver lining in what happened. It alerted people to the large and important role played by the canal … This is an international facility for global commerce that has been enshrined in the consciousness of world trade for 150 or 160 years.” The canal was inaugurated in 1869.
By Monday afternoon, 422 vessels were stuck in the canal or anchored in open sea near the waterway’s Mediterranean and Red Sea entrances waiting to sail through. On Tuesday, Adm Rabie said traffic resumed at the canal at 6 PM on Monday, 15 minutes after the Ever Given arrived at the Great Bitter Lake.
Since then, he said, 113 vessels transited the canal and 140 more, more than double the normal daily traffic in the waterway, were expected to follow suit on Tuesday.
That figure, said Adm Rabie, testified to the popularity of the canal. He said the alternative route between Asia and Europe around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope was 10,000 miles longer, takes two more weeks to complete when compared with the use of the canal. "It is not safe either," he said.
Adm Rabie said the salvage operation was the first of its kind in the world; to refloat a vessel of Ever Given's size without offloading its cargo.
The 400-metre vessel has a cargo of nearly 20,000 containers.
Helped by the peak of high tide, a flotilla of tugboats managed to wrench the bulbous bow of the skyscraper-sized Ever Given from the canal's sandy bank, where it had been lodged since March 23.
The results of the inspection of the Ever Given at the Great Bitter Lake will determine whether the ship can resume its scheduled service. Once it is complete, a decision and arrangements will be made about the cargo on board.
The first vessels to sail through the waterway after the canal reopened for traffic at 6pm on Monday were YM Wish, Maersk Emeraldas and Ever Globe.
The planned number of vessels to sail through the canal per day has yet to be set by the Suez Canal Authority but maritime expert Ranjith Raja, head of Mena Oil and Shipping Research data company Refinitiv, said 90 to 100 ships a day was possible.
That would be roughly double the usual daily average of about 50.
Refinitiv estimated it could take more than 10 days to clear the backlog of ships.
Seventeen tugboats and support vessels were involved in the last big effort to move the ship on Monday afternoon.
Video shared online early on Monday purported to show the moments after the boat was refloated, with Suez Canal authority personnel heard rejoicing and shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great).
The tugs included the Dutch-registered Alp Guard and the Italian-registered Carlo Magno, according to Leth Agencies. The two vessels arrived at the canal over the past 24 hours.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
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Top tips
Create and maintain a strong bond between yourself and your child, through sensitivity, responsiveness, touch, talk and play. “The bond you have with your kids is the blueprint for the relationships they will have later on in life,” says Dr Sarah Rasmi, a psychologist.
Set a good example. Practise what you preach, so if you want to raise kind children, they need to see you being kind and hear you explaining to them what kindness is. So, “narrate your behaviour”.
Praise the positive rather than focusing on the negative. Catch them when they’re being good and acknowledge it.
Show empathy towards your child’s needs as well as your own. Take care of yourself so that you can be calm, loving and respectful, rather than angry and frustrated.
Be open to communication, goal-setting and problem-solving, says Dr Thoraiya Kanafani. “It is important to recognise that there is a fine line between positive parenting and becoming parents who overanalyse their children and provide more emotional context than what is in the child’s emotional development to understand.”
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
Third Test
Day 3, stumps
India 443-7 (d) & 54-5 (27 ov)
Australia 151
India lead by 346 runs with 5 wickets remaining
UFC%20FIGHT%20NIGHT%3A%20SAUDI%20ARABIA%20RESULTS
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Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
The years Ramadan fell in May
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Keep it fun and engaging
Stuart Ritchie, director of wealth advice at AES International, says children cannot learn something overnight, so it helps to have a fun routine that keeps them engaged and interested.
“I explain to my daughter that the money I draw from an ATM or the money on my bank card doesn’t just magically appear – it’s money I have earned from my job. I show her how this works by giving her little chores around the house so she can earn pocket money,” says Mr Ritchie.
His daughter is allowed to spend half of her pocket money, while the other half goes into a bank account. When this money hits a certain milestone, Mr Ritchie rewards his daughter with a small lump sum.
He also recommends books that teach the importance of money management for children, such as The Squirrel Manifesto by Ric Edelman and Jean Edelman.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg (first-leg score):
Manchester City (0) v Tottenham Hotspur (1), Wednesday, 11pm UAE
Match is on BeIN Sports
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
Read more about the coronavirus
More coverage from the Future Forum
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RESULT
Shabab Al Ahli Dubai 0 Al Ain 6
Al Ain: Caio (5', 73'), El Shahat (10'), Berg (65'), Khalil (83'), Al Ahbabi (90' 2)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The years Ramadan fell in May
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
