Driver of tiny excavator next to Ever Given: I was on cloud nine when the ship was refloated

CAIRO – 1 April 2021: Although it is tiny in comparison to a giant ship, the first small excavator that was used to remove the sand and mud around the bow of the Ever Given vessel after it went aground has made a good job in the operation of refloating, said the excavator driver Abdullah Talaat Abdel Gawad on Thursday.

 

“The excavator had a key role in the refloating process as the ship’s bow went aground in a rocky area,” said the driver of the excavator told Youm7, clarifying that he was assigned by his company to head to the site of the ship to start excavating around the ship’s bow.

 

“I was on cloud nine after the success of refloating the ship. It was one of the happiest moments of my life because this success is a success for all of Egypt,” he said.

 

A photo was released by the Suez Canal Authority showing the tiny excavator removing the sand and mud around the ship’s bow. Several hours later, the photo went viral on social media and people start sarcastically talking about how the tiny excavator is trying to help a giant ship.

 

However, in a press conference held on March 27, 2021, head of the Suez Canal Authority Admiral Osama Rabie said that this tiny excavator’s role is vital to remove the sand in the rocky area.

 

Freed at 3:00 pm (Cairo time) on Monday by 800 personnel and 15 giant tugboats, Ever Given was pulled by two gigantic tugboats from its bow and entered the Great Bitte Lakes in Ismailia at 5:45 pm and the navigation resumed at 6:00 pm on Monday evening. Anonymous sources told Egypt Today four days ago that the ship has suffered damages at its bow and water entered in the bow’s holds due to its accident in rocky soil, but such damages did not affect its sailing when it has been pulled to the Lakes.

 

Egypt started investigations into the accident on Wednesday, estimating the losses and costs of refloating process at more than $ 1 billion.