Shoei Kisen, the company that owns the vessel, said it was considering removing containers if other refloating efforts failed.Two attempts to free the vessel failed on Saturday, said Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the ship’s management company, and a canal services provider, Leth Agencies, despite hopes a high tide might give the vessel a boost.Bernhard Schulte had said earlier that “significant progress” was made late on Friday at the ship’s stern where its rudder was released from sediment.It said around a dozen tugboats were working on Saturday alongside dredging operations that were removing sand and mud from around the left side of the vessel’s bow. Some 9,000 metric tons of ballast water had been already removed from the vessel.Since the blockage began, a maritime traffic jam has grown to more than 320 vessels waiting on both ends of the Suez Canal and in the Great Bitter Lake in the middle of the waterway.
