Thread by @AFP

#BREAKING Suez Canal Authority working to free grounded ship

Map of the Suez Canal locating a grounded container ship that is causing a traffic jam of vessels in both directions
#AFPgraphics

#UPDATE A giant container ship ran aground in the Suez Canal after a gust of wind blew it off course, the vessel's operator said Wednesday, bringing marine traffic to a halt along one of the world's busiest trade routes
u.afp.com/UfvC

#UPDATE Tug boats worked on Wednesday to free a giant container ship stuck in the #SuezCanal after it veered off course in a sandstorm, creating huge tailbacks on one of the world's busiest trade routes u.afp.com/UfvK #EverGiven

#UPDATE Egypt's #SuezCanal Authority said Wednesday it was trying to refloat the Taiwan-run, Panama-flagged MV #EverGiven, a 400-metre (1,300-foot) long, 59-metre wide vessel which became wedged across the waterway after veering off course in a sandstorm u.afp.com/UY3Y

Volatile oil prices leapt higher Wednesday, with the US benchmark contract WTI gaining 5 percent owing to an accident in the Suez Canal and mixed US oil stocks data, traders said #SuezCanal