Suez Canal: Stranded container ship Ever Given refloated

The stuck cargo ship has hit the global cargo movement through the Suez Canal (Image: AP)

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

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

Ship-tracking service VesselFinder has changed the ship's status to under way on its website.

Crude oil prices fell after news the ship had been re-floated, with Brent crude down by $1 per barrel to $63.67.

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.

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.

Already, hundreds 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.