Evergreen vessel freed after a month aground in US waters

The Ever Forward container ship after being freed on 17 April

Over a month after running aground in the murky waters of Maryland's Chesapeake Bay, the 1,096-foot Ever Forward container ship has been freed.

The ship, operated by a Taiwanese company, became stuck in water just 25 feet (7.5m) deep on 13 March after leaving Baltimore.

Her sister ship, the Ever Given, became stuck in Egypt's Suez Canal last year, disrupting global supply chains.

It remains unclear what caused Ever Forward's grounding.

Two previous attempts to dislodge the vessel were unsuccessful, prompting barges to be deployed to remove approximately 500 of 5,000 containers on board.

Aided by high tides and under a full moon, on Sunday morning salvage vessels were finally able to move the Ever Forward from the shallow, muddy waters where it was stuck and across a recently dredged hole into a deeper shipping channel.

The ship was then weighed down by water tanks to ensure that it made it under the nearby Chesapeake Bay Bridge to head to an anchorage near Annapolis, according to the Baltimore Sun newspaper.

The Ever Forward's hull will now be examined by inspectors before being allowed to return to Baltimore to pick up the containers that were removed.

The vessel's grounding did not result in any injuries, damage or pollution. The Coast Guard has not commented on what caused the incident.

According to the Maryland Port Administration (MPA), the Ever Forward's grounding did not result in disruptions to ship traffic to and from Baltimore, one of the busiest ports in the US.

The lack of disruption to shipping lanes wasn't the case when the Ever Given became stuck. That incident sent shockwaves throughout the world's supply chains after the vessel became wedged in the narrow Suez Canal for six days. The blockage of the 193km (120-mile) canal caused several hundred ships to be stuck in a traffic jam.

The Ever Given was later impounded by Egyptian authorities for three months before the government signed a compensation deal with its owners and insurers.