Ship stranded in the Suez Canal, the Italian tug arrived

by time news

A tugboat flying the Italian flag, the Charlemagne, arrived at the Suez Canal to help with the work aimed at removing the Ever Given, the 220,000-ton, 400-meter-long container ship that ran aground six days ago. This was announced by the site of the Egyptian government newspaper al-Ahram citing satellite data from MarineTraffic.com and explaining that a Dutch tugboat, the Alp Guard, also arrived today.


Among the 321 boats that are waiting to cross the Suez Canal, there are also about twenty carrying livestock, as the Guardian has announced. Expressing concern about the conditions of the animals being transported was Gerit Weidinger, Animals International coordinator for Europe, who said: “ My biggest fear is that the animals run out of food and water and get stuck on the ships because they cannot be downloaded elsewhere for bureaucratic reasons ”.

Thus signaling the risk of dehydration and hunger, the NGO recalls that usually these ships carrying livestock have “supplies for two to three days”. According to Weidinger it is “a biological time bomb for animals, crews and all other people involved”. Among the livestock ships that are blocked in Suez, five loaded animals in Spain and nine in Romania in early March, Animals International explains.

The Damascus authorities have meanwhile announced that they have begun to ration fuel. This was announced by the Syrian Ministry of Petroleum, explaining that the blockade of the Suez Canal prevented the passage of a ship from Iran and that it should have arrived on Friday at the port of Banias in Syria with fuel and oil products on board. In mid-March, Syria had already announced a more than 50 percent increase in the price of gasoline.

While waiting for the situation in Suez, Syria to be resolved, “the ministry is rationing the distribution of available petroleum products” to ensure the continuity of essential services, including hospitals, a statement read. Syrian Oil Minister Bassam Tomeh told state television he “hopes that the release operations will be successful as soon as possible”.

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