Jammed container ship causes enormously costly traffic jam in Suez Canal
A massive container vessel has become wedged in the Suez canal, blocking traffic on one of the world's most important waterways.
The Ever Given, a 400-metre long cargo ship en route from China to Rotterdam, has become stuck one of the narrowest parts of the canal.
Tugboats are desperately trying to shift the massive vessel as a massive backlog of ships accumulates at the mouth of the Red Sea, and the Great Bitter Lake.
The Ever Given (owned by the company Evergreen) is jammed in the Suez Canal. Instagram
Engineer Julianne Cona is stuck on the vessel behind the Ever Given, and photographed the stuck ship.
"Ship in front of us ran aground while going through the canal and is now stuck sideways," she wrote on Instagram.
"Looks like we might be here for a little bit."
Tugboats (seen in blue) are trying to push the Ever Given in the right direction. Vessel Finder
She added the sarcastic hashtag #wellthisisfun.
So far the vessel, owned by the shipping company Evergreen, has been stuck for more than 12 hours.
The Suez Canal is one of the busiest waterways in the world.
Without it, vessels would have to sail all the way around the continent of Africa to get from Europe to Asia.
The canal runs through Egypt from the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.
Nearly everything shipped from Asia and the Middle East to Europe and vice versa passes through the Suez Canal.
Every dot on this map is a ship waiting for the Ever Given to become unstuck. Vessel Finder
Share a tip-off, video or photo with us
