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CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR:First up on CNN 10 this Thursday, a traffic jam in Egypt that's probably unlike anything you've ever seen. I'm Carl Azuz and we're starting in the Suez Canal.
This is an artificial waterway in Egypt. It connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. If a ship wants to travel from Europe to East Africa, India or Oceania, this is the fastest way to do it — at least it is when it's notblocked up.
A massive container ship ran aground in the Suez Canal this week after high winds and a sandstorm reportedly made it difficult to sail. The vessel which sails under the flag of Panama is called the Ever Given. And to give you a sense of how big it is, it's almost as long as the Empire State Building is tall, and it's just under 200 feet wide.
The cargo ship is stuck diagonally, no large vessels canget aroundit. Eight tugboats have been working to free the Ever Given. It's reportedly damaged. Once the ship is cleared, it'll probably have to be towed for miles to the nearest port where it'll be unloaded and repaired.
Meantime, the number of other ships that are waiting is growing. One official says as many as a hundred of them could belining upat opposite ends of the canal toget through.
Some of these vessels are carrying oil from Oman, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States. That could disrupt supplies if the Ever Given isn't freed soon. How long will that take? An Egyptian official says a couple days at least, a week or more if things don't go well. And after it's moved, it'll probably take days to get maritime traffic back to its normal flow in the Suez Canal.
