CAIRO, Egypt – The owners of a giant container vessel blocking the Suez Canal said Thursday they faced “extreme difficulty” refloating it, as Egypt temporarily closed one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s advisor on seaports, Mohab Mamish, told AFP late Thursday that “maritime navigation will resume again within 48-72 hours, maximum”.
“I have experience with several rescue operations of this kind and as the former chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, I know every centimetre of the canal,” said Mamish, who oversaw the recent expansion of the waterway.
However, salvage experts had warned earlier on Thursday th…
Keep on reading: Egypt shuts Suez Canal amid struggle to refloat grounded megaship