In 2020, 19,000 ships passed through the canal - more than 50 ships per day. In an effort to increase traffic, the Egyptian government undertook an $8 billion expansion of the Canal back in 2015, extracting 260 million tons of sand to build a new channel and deepen and widen sections of the old canal. The Suez Canal is also an important route for tankers transporting fossil gas and oil. Some 80 percent of the worldвЂ™s trade travels by sea, and around 12 percent moves through the Suez Canal. It remained wedged there for days - creating what amounted to the worldвЂ™s largest traffic jam in one of the most important shipping transit routes on earth.Д¬ompleted in 1869, the Suez Canal provides one of the shortest maritime routes between Asia and Europe by connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas and allowing ships to avoid having to go around the Horn of Africa. With the bow of the ship touching the eastern wall of the canal and the stern against the western wall, the vessel completely blocked the waterway, leaving dozens of smaller ships stranded on both sides. The 1,312-foot-long container ship was traveling from China to the Netherlands through the narrow canal last Tuesday when Egyptian authorities say a dust storm brought low visibility and heavy winds that caused the ship to run aground. The dayslong saga of the stuck ship disrupted global trade to the tune of billions of dollars and captivated the worldвЂ™s ( and the internetвЂ™s) attention. Navy's Fifth Fleet over maritime security concerns for vessels that do chose to sail south around Africa, which would put them in waters off the continent's eastern coast that have a long history of piracy.As of Monday evening local time, Ever Given, the massive container ship that had blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week, is free. The Financial Times reported on Friday that a number of shipping groups had contacted the U.S. Other vessels must decide to either wait it out or opt for the very long way round Africa's southern tip, which can add a week to a voyage and carries additional security risks. A map shows the Suez Canal, a man-made, sea-level waterway that cuts through northern Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, providing sea cargo an easy shortcut between Europe to Asia and eliminating the need to navigate around all of Africa. Some 30% of the world's container traffic uses the canal, and while less than 5% of the global petroleum product supply goes through it, that's enough to impact gas prices. The blockage is holding up an estimated 10% of the world's overall trade that normally uses the canal as a shortcut between Asia and Europe. The MV Ever Given, a Panama-flagged cargo ship wedged across the Suez Canal and blocking traffic in the vital waterway, is seen on March 26, 2021. As long as it's in the way other vessels continue to pile up both at the northern entrance from the Mediterranean and in the Red Sea to the south. The Ever Given blockage creates a sizeable dilemma for other ships. would provide to Egypt or the Dutch and Japanese salvage companies working to dislodge the ship High-stakes traffic jam It was not clear what help, if any, the U.S. in this regard in appreciation of this good initiative which confirms the friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries.'

on Friday for an apparent offer 'to contribute to these efforts, and looks forward to cooperating with the U.S.

There has even been some discussion of trying to pull on both ends of the ship with cables fixed to heavy machines on the land, but with any of these options, there's an inherent risk of damaging or even capsizing the ship.Д®gypt's Suez Canal Authority (SCA) thanked the U.S.

The ship free