Ever Forward: Cousin of container ship which got stuck in Suez Canal runs aground off US coast

Ever Given blocked Suez Canal for almost a week, causing a backlog of 400 container ships and delays in the global supply chain

Shipping company Evergreen marked the first anniversary of its container ship, Ever Given, blocking the Suez Canal with its cousin, the Ever Forward, running aground off the east coast of the US.

The Coast Guard began working on Tuesday to refloat the stranded 334-meter (1,096-foot) containership, two days after it gut stuck in the Chesapeake Bay off the coast of Baltimore.

The Ever Given, slightly larger at 400-metres, was stuck in the Suez Canal for six days in March 2021, blocking the shipping artery in both directions and causing a delay for more than 400 ships. The Ever Forward, meanwhile, was about two miles offshore when it ran aground on Sunday, 13 March.

A Coast Guard spokesperson told The Baltimore Sun that captains navigating the area were asked to reduce speed and follow one-way traffic around the stranded ship, allowing shipping to continue out of the Port of Baltimore.

Coast guard petty officer Steven Lehman told the outlet there was not a confirmed timeline on when the ship will be re-floated.

"Everything like this is kind of its own beast," Mr Lehman said.

The beast that was the Ever Given took six days, a fleet of a dozen tug boats and a dredger known as Mashhour to dislodge it from the Suez Canal.

Ever Given in the Suez Canal (EPA)

The current tracking for Ever Forward marks it remaining "aground" but with an expected arrival date at its destination, the port of Norfolk, by Thursday 17 March.

The ship, which sails under the Hong Kong flag, arrived in Baltimore on Sunday from Savannah, Georgia, and before that through the Panama Canal, according to Vessel Finder.

A spokesman for the Maryland Department of the Environment, which is supporting the operations, told The Independent there were currently no indications of pollution but that they were on-site reviewing and monitoring the vessel’s fuel tanks.