Egypt's Suez Canal blocked by huge container ship
A giant container ship the length of 4 football pitches has become wedged across Egypt's Suez Canal , blocking traffic in one among the world's busiest trade routes.
Dozens of vessels are stuck, expecting rescue boats to free the 400m-long (1,312ft) ship, which was knocked astray by strong winds.
Egypt has reopened the canal's older channel to divert some traffic until the grounded ship can move again.
The mishap has created long tailbacks.
About 12% of worldwide trade passes through the Suez Canal , which connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea and provides the shortest sea link between Asia and Europe.
The Ever Given, registered in Panama, was bound for the port city of Rotterdam within the Netherlands from China and was passing northwards through the canal on its thanks to the Mediterranean.
The 200,000 tonne ship, inbuilt 2018 and operated by Taiwanese transport company Evergreen Marine, ran aground and have become lodged sideways across the waterway at about 07:40 civil time (05:40 GMT) on Tuesday.
At 400m long and 59m wide, the ship has blocked the trail of other vessels which are now trapped in lines in both directions.
While experts had warned it could take several days to resolve, agent GAC said the ship had already been partially refloated, and would resume its journey soon. There has been no official confirmation from the Suez Canal Authority.
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Reuters, quoting local sources, says there are a minimum of 30 ships blocked to the north of the Ever Given, and three to the south.
Evergreen Marine said the ship was "suspected of being hit by a sudden strong wind, causing the hull to deviate... and accidentally hit rock bottom and run aground".
The company that manages the container ship, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), confirmed on Wednesday that "all crew are safe and accounted for", with no reports of injuries.
Eight tug boats are working to refloat the ship, and diggers on the bottom are removing sand from where it's wedged into the side of the canal bank.
Dr Sal Mercogliano, a maritime historian based within the US state of North Carolina, told the BBC that incidents like this were rare, but could have "huge ramifications for global trade".
"This is that the largest vessel ever to travel aground within the Suez Canal ," he said, adding that the ship got lodged within the embankment and would have lost power and its ability to steer.
"If they're unable to tug her free... during a high water , they're getting to need to start removing cargo."
Julianna Cona, who says she is on board another ship located directly behind the Ever Given, wrote on Instagram: "Ship ahead folks ran aground while browsing the canal and is now stuck sideways seems like we'd be here for a touch bit..."
The Suez Canal crosses the Suez Isthmus in Egypt - a strip of land between the Mediterranean and Red Sea . The canal is 193km (120 miles) long and incorporates three natural lakes.
In 2015, Egypt's government opened a serious expansion of the canal that deepened the most waterway and provided ships with a 35km (22 mile) channel parallel thereto .
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