(UPDATED) The container ship Ever Given, which had blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week, was freed today. Traffic on this main waterway may be restored, Reuters reported with reference to the administration of the canal.

Today, some tugboats manage to get the mammoth 220,000 tons from the canal’s sandy banks with the help of the tide. But dozens of ships have chosen alternative routes around the Cape of Good Hope on Africa’s southern tip, which will extend their journey by about two weeks and also make it much more expensive, not to mention delaying deliveries.

At least 369 ships are waiting to pass through the canal, said the head of the canal administration, Usáma Rabía. He added that it would take two and a half to three days for these ships to pass. However, according to Maersk, sea freight could still face the negative consequences of an accident for weeks or months.

(11:32, original report) According to satellite imagery, the pear-shaped prow of the giant ship is partially exposed from the east bank of the channel. The stern of the ship has moved and is already in the middle of the water, wrote the AP.

Barely a week ago, the main shipping route was blocked by a skyscraper-sized ship, blocking the way for many other ships. Every day of delay meant a loss of nearly 200 billion crowns in world trade. At least 367 ships are still waiting for the waterway to be cleared, according to the AP’s office. Among them are container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers or cattle carriers. Dozens of ships have taken alternative routes around the Cape of Good Hope on Africa’s southern tip, extending their journey by about two weeks and potentially delaying shipments.

The ship Ever Given was partially freed using ten tugboats against the current, said Leth Agencies. The head of the canal administration, Usáma Rabía, confirmed that the ship was partially freed by carrying out a tug and a push maneuver. He added that the ship’s position had been straightened 80 percent and the stern had shifted 102 meters from the edge of the channel.

When the tide returns at 11:30 a.m. local time today, rescue crews will continue their efforts to tow the boat halfway into the waterway towards Great Bitter Lake, the body of water halfway between the north and south ends of the channel, Rabia said. He added, the next plan is that the ship will undergo a technical inspection.

Shoei Kisen Kaisha of Japan, which owns the Ever Given, said the ship would continue on its way once the power was removed, saying its engines were operational. However, according to the AP, it is not yet clear whether the Panama-flagged ship carrying cargo from Asia to Europe will head to its original destination, Rotterdam, or will have to go to another port for repairs.

The ship operator has not given a timetable for reopening the main waterway, which carries more than 10 percent of world trade, including 7 percent of world oil, according to AP. According to its administrators, more than 19,000 ships passed through the Suez Canal last year. Millions of barrels of oil and liquefied natural gas flow from the Persian Gulf to Europe and North America via this important water corridor. But goods made in China, including furniture, clothing and other staples, also pass through the Suez Canal.

So far, the team has tried to dislodge the 400-metre-long container ship using dredgers and tugboats, though analysts warn that this may not be enough to free the 220,000-ton behemoth. As the window for releasing ships narrowed this week and the tides receded, there were fears that authorities would be forced to lighten the ship by removing 20,000 containers. At the same time, it is a complex operation requiring special equipment not found in Egypt, writes the AP. According to the agency, the surgery can last from a few days to weeks.

The internet is having fun

As the Suez Canal remains blocked by giant cargo ships, yesterday’s internet users were amused by the strange names of the ships stuck near the Suez and speculated about their possible origins, the news site wrote. The New York Post.

Among the names that caught their attention, for example, Nautical Deborah, Thor Courage, or the usual Chris. “I think I just found the best ship name ever,” wrote one user on Twitter who spotted the Naval Deborah among the waiting ships. “Is it something like a racehorse where foals are named after their parents?” asked another user.

After the nearly 1,000-foot-long Ever Given wedged in the Suez Canal this week, a wide variety of ships, including 41 large cargo ships, dozens of tankers — and at least one Russian warship — remain blocked from the canal’s mouth.

And curious Internet users also get other linguistic pearls from the ship database in the form of the names Energy Centurion (Energy centurion), Bulk Venus (Massive Venus), as well as Friendship Express (Friendship Express) or Lunchbox (Lunchbox).

The strange names of ships plying the world’s oceans may be related to the locations of two major international ship registration centers in Nigeria and the Marshall Islands, where the language barrier may have contributed to some language disputes.

“Many companies name ships after Greek figures like Thor or Venus, and then add nicknames to differentiate them from other ships they own,” Burchenal Green, president of the National Maritime Historical Society, told The New York Post (which accidentally moved the name the ship). Norse god Thor and Roman goddess Venus to Olympus among Greek gods – note ČTK.).