SUEZ – I was interrupted at the most beautiful, after having found an opening to access the Suez Canal, everywhere manned by the Egyptian army. After a couple of hours of dirt roads, when I finally arrived at the foot of the gigantic Ever Given, a few kilometers north of Suez, I am stopped by General Al Sisi’s policemen who confiscate my passport and cell phone. I had just started filming the first one clip for a video that I would send to the newspaper in the afternoon when a dozen Egyptian agents came out of nowhere.
The Suez Canal is still blocked, the container ship remains stranded
by Vincenzo Nigro
In the short clip, the only one that I was able to turn, you hear the horn of one of their cars and the intimidating voice of one of them.
After hours of reprimands and negotiations, the situation has not yet unblocked and I continue to be held back.
One of the companies that operated on the Costa Concordia al Giglio has to free the cargo stranded in the Suez Strait
Meanwhile, behind me I see the steel giant of the Evergreen Company solidly stranded in the sand. The Egyptian authorities swear that in the next few hours they will be able to free him and restore maritime traffic along the Suez Canal. They say they have already completed more than 90 percent of the work to clear this container carrier as long as the Eiffel Tower and as wide as a six-lane highway. And then tomorrow the great tides of the Equinox are expected, which should facilitate the removal of the ship.
Suez Canal, dredging completed. Unlocking possible today
The Dutch company, the same company that freed the Costa cruise ship in front of the Giglio island, called by Cairo for the Ever Given, is more pessimistic and continues to expect longer times. As I leave, I take a last look at her. What is surprising compared to the photos and videos seen these days are the narrow width of the channel at this point and the height that containers can reach, loaded one on top of the other like pieces of a giant Lego.
Suez, the yellow of vanished containers: the “caissons” that cannot be found (and very expensive) on the market
by Ettore Livini
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