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Russia offers to help Egypt in freeing Suez Canal ship

WION Web Team
New DelhiUpdated: Mar 28, 2021, 09:06 PM IST
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A file photo of blockage at Suez Canal Photograph:(AFP)

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The blockage of Suez Canal is costing shipping companies billions of dollars as they have been forced to operate their ships around Africa adding more days in the travel

Russian ambassador to Egypt said Russia was prepared to offer "any possible assistance" to free the ship stuck in Suez Canal. The ship MV Ever Given has been stuck diagonally in the Suez canal thus blocking the traffic through one of the world's most important waterway.

"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," said Georgy Borisenko, the Russian ambassador. He was speaking Russian state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

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 blockage of Suez Canal is costing shipping companies billions of dollars as they have been forced to operate their ships around Africa adding more days in the travel.

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.

(With AFP inputs)