Suez Canal Traffic Backlog Finally Cleared Following The Ever Given Saga

Five days after a skyscraper-sized container vessel was dislodged from the Suez Canal, the backlog of ships waiting to cross through the Egyptian waterway has been cleared, the canal authority says.

When the 1,312-foot Ever Given ship ran aground March 23, it blocked canal traffic, grinding maritime shipping to a halt at one of the world's busiest waterways. During the six days the Ever Given remained stuck, more than 400 ships were stranded at the man-made canal, which connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.

But after a flotilla of tugboats finally freed the vessel on Monday, traffic resumed. Late Friday, the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority told an Egyptian television station the remaining 61 ships would pass through the canal on Saturday.