Ever Given, Ship that Blocked Suez Canal in March, Crosses Canal Again

Ever Given, one of the world's largest container ships, is seen after sailing through Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt August 20, 2021. (Suez Canal Authority/Handout via Reuters)
Ever Given, one of the world's largest container ships, is seen after sailing through Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt August 20, 2021. (Suez Canal Authority/Handout via Reuters)
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Ever Given, Ship that Blocked Suez Canal in March, Crosses Canal Again

Ever Given, one of the world's largest container ships, is seen after sailing through Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt August 20, 2021. (Suez Canal Authority/Handout via Reuters)
Ever Given, one of the world's largest container ships, is seen after sailing through Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt August 20, 2021. (Suez Canal Authority/Handout via Reuters)

The giant container ship Ever Given, which blocked the Suez Canal for six days in March, crossed the waterway on Friday for the first time since it left Egypt after the incident.

The ship, en route from the United Kingdom to China, crossed the canal among a convoy of 26 vessels sailing from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said in a statement. Another 36 ships crossed the waterway from the south.

A group of SCA senior pilots and two tugboats escorted the Ever Given throughout its journey through the canal, the authority said in a statement.

The vessel, one of the world's largest container ships, became jammed across the canal in high winds on March 23, halting traffic in both directions and disrupting global trade.

Once it was dislodged, the 400-meter (1,312-foot) vessel left Egypt on July 7, 106 days after becoming wedged across a southern section of the waterway.

Egypt released the Ever Given after protracted negotiations and an undisclosed settlement reached between the SCA and the ship's owners and insurers. It arrived in the Dutch port of Rotterdam on July 29 before heading to Felixstowe, England.

Roughly 15% of world shipping traffic transits the Suez Canal, the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

Friday's voyage through the canal was the Ever Given's 22nd in the waterway.

Shipping trafficking websites Marinetraffic.com and Vesselfinder.com showed the ship in the Red Sea after crossing the canal‮.



WHO: Attacks on Health Care Workers in Lebanon on the Rise

A damaged building at the site of an Israeli military strike in Dahieh, a suburb in southern Beirut, Lebanon, 01 November 2024. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
A damaged building at the site of an Israeli military strike in Dahieh, a suburb in southern Beirut, Lebanon, 01 November 2024. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
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WHO: Attacks on Health Care Workers in Lebanon on the Rise

A damaged building at the site of an Israeli military strike in Dahieh, a suburb in southern Beirut, Lebanon, 01 November 2024. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
A damaged building at the site of an Israeli military strike in Dahieh, a suburb in southern Beirut, Lebanon, 01 November 2024. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

The World Health Organization is deeply concerned about rising attacks on health care workers and facilities in Lebanon, a WHO official said on Friday.

While 55 attacks have been verified, the actual number of incidents is likely to be significantly higher, Margaret Harris said at a UN briefing.

Six Lebanese health workers were killed and four wounded in Israeli strikes across south Lebanon on Thursday, the health ministry said in a statement.

The strikes killed five paramedics with the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee and one with the Amal-linked Risala Scouts, the ministry said.

The total number of health workers killed by Israel since October 2023 rose to 178 and 279 wounded, the ministry added.