US offers to help Egypt reopen Suez Canal
The US offer comes days after a giant vessel ran aground and became lodged sideways in the canal.
The United States has offered to help Egypt free a massive container ship that is blocking traffic in the Suez Canal, the White House said on Friday.
"As part of our active diplomatic dialogue with Egypt, we've offered U.S. assistance to Egyptian authorities to help reopen the canal,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at a briefing.
“We are consulting with our Egyptian partners about how we can best support their efforts. So those conversations are ongoing and hopefully we’ll have more to say about that soon,” she said.
The Ever Given, a 220,000-metric-ton skyscraper-sized vessel, was en route to the Netherlands when it ran aground due to poor weather near the southern end of the canal. A group of tugboats, dredgers and diggers are working to move the ship, which experts say could take days, if not weeks.
