A team of eight experts from Smit Salvage, along with heavy dredging equipment, are on their way to the Suez Canal to make the next refloating attempt on the grounded Evergreen boxship.

This weekend's spring tide now appears the earliest opportunity to release the 20,388-teu Ever Given (built 2018), which is described as “hard aground”.

Yukito Higaki, president of owner Shoei Kisen, told a Tokyo press conference that the next attempt to refloat the vessel would be made on the evening of 27 March.