The stranded container ship Ever Given blocking the Suez Canal was re-floated on March 29 and is currently being secured, Inch Cape Shipping Services said.

The ship was successfully refloated at 4.30 am local time and was being secured at the moment, Inchcape, a global provider of marine services said on Twitter.

CURRENT POSITION of EVER GIVEN

 The stern of the boat has moved away from the canal's western bank.

Ever Given on map

It's still unclear when the canal will reopen for traffic now that the vessel has been dislodged.

Excavators have been working around the clock to dig out and vacuum up a massive amount of sand and mud around the ship, while tug boat crews have been working to free it.

The breakthrough came after intensive efforts to push and pull the ship with 10 tugboats and vacuum up sand with several dredgers at spring tide.

A video shows the ship floating straight in the canal, no longer wedged across — and potentially with enough space for other vessels to pass by it.

Already, hundreds of vessels remained trapped in the canal waiting to pass, carrying everything from crude oil to cattle. Over two dozen vessels have opted for the alternative route between Asia and Europe around the Cape of Good Hope, adding some two weeks to journeys and threatening delivery delays.

An all-Indian crew comprising 25 Indian nationals remains aboard the MV Ever Given container ship.

Although the vessel is vulnerable to damage in its current position, Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd., the company that owns the Ever Given, dismissed concerns, saying that the ship's engine was functional and it could pursue its trip normally when freed.

The MV Ever Given, longer than four football fields, has been wedged diagonally across the canal since March 23, towering over nearby palm trees and strangling world supply chains.

The crisis held up $9 billion in global trade each day, bringing disruption to the vital waterway.

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