The sister ship of the vessel that ran aground and blocked the Suez Canal for several days last year has run aground in the Chesapeake Bay near Baltimore, the US Coast Guard said.
The ironically named container ship Ever Forward became stranded after departing the Port of Baltimore Seagirt Terminal late Sunday, according to mapping data compiled by Bloomberg News.
The 1,096-foot-long vessel was en route to Norfolk, Virginia, when it got stuck, according to the news outlet.
“The ship’s grounding is not preventing other ships from transiting to the Port of Baltimore,” Maryland Port Administration chief William Doyle said in a statement.
“Efforts have been underway since last night to try and free the ship and will continue today. The Coast Guard is monitoring the situation,” he added.
The not-so-Ever Forward is operated by Evergreen Marine Corp Taiwan Ltd., the same company that operates the 1,312-foot Ever Given, which ran aground almost exactly a year ago, blocking the busy Suez Canal for six days.
Ever Forward, owned by Evergreen Marine Corp., sits grounded in the Chesapeake Bay off the coast of Maryland on March 15, 2022. REUTERS/Julio Cesar Chavez
A US Coast Guard officer monitors the Ever Forward in the Chesapeake Bay on March 14, 2022. Coast Guard/Handout via REUTERS
Ever Forward’s sister ship blocked the Suez Canal for several days last year. REUTERSThe Ever Given, which was carrying 17,600 containers, blocked the canal in both directions, resulting in a backlog of more than 400 ships delayed by the maritime snafu that made global headlines.
The 220,000-ton ship was finally freed after a dredging operation that involved 13 tugboats aided by a rising tide.
