RUSSIA OFFERS EGYPT ASSISTANCE IN FREEING SHIP BLOCKING SUEZ

The MV Ever Given has been stuck diagonally across the span of the canal since Tuesday, blocking the waterway in both directions.

This picture taken on March 28, 2021 shows a distant view of the Panama-flagged MV 'Ever Given' (operated by Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine) container ship, which has been wedged diagonally across the span of the canal about six kilometres north of the Suez Canal's entrance by the Red Sea port city of Suez since March 23, blocking the waterway in both directions. Picture: Ahmed HASAN / AFP.

AFP 

MOSCOW - Russia's ambassador to Egypt on Sunday offered the country "any possible assistance", as efforts continue to free a megaship that has been blocking the Suez Canal for nearly a week.

The MV Ever Given has been stuck diagonally across the span of the canal since Tuesday, blocking the waterway in both directions.

In comments to the state-run RIA Novosti news agency, Russian ambassador Georgy Borisenko said that Moscow is ready to help any way it can.

"We hope that this problem will be overcome in the very near future, that the work of the channel will be restored, and, naturally, we are ready to provide our Egyptian friends with any possible assistance from our side," the ambassador said.

Borisenko added that Egypt has not reached out to Moscow for support, but said Russia "empathises with what's happening now in the Suez Canal", describing it as "an important waterway for the whole world".

On Saturday, Suez Canal Authority chief Osama Rabie had told reporters that the massive ship could be afloat by Sunday night.

The jam has crippled international trade and forced companies to reconsider re-routing vessels around Africa's Cape of Good Hope, a longer and more expensive way to travel between Asia and Europe.

Another Russian ambassador had earlier this week seized on the Suez Canal blockage to promote Russia's northern shipping route as a reliable alternative, part of a broader push by Moscow to develop the Arctic and capitalise on climate change.

Moscow has invested heavily in the development of the Northern Sea Route that allows ships to cut the journey to Asian ports by 15 days compared with the conventional route via the Suez Canal.