Almost after a week after the Ever Given container ship blocked the essential Suez Canal, it was dislodged and floating again on Monday. Thanks to the congregation of tugboats and dredgers that freed the cargo ship from Egypts coast, traffic resumed in crucial shipping route that had severely affected global supply chains and economy. As videos of the ship moving went viral, so did memes and jokes, and strangely many people on the internet revolted saying: “put it back”.
At dawn on Monday, rescue workers from the SCA working with a team from Dutch firm Smit Salvage partially refloated the ship and straightened it in the canal. After several hours, it shifted briefly back across the canal before being manoeuvred free by tugs as the tide changed, Reuters reported.
Video of the cargo ship leaving canal, with all the crew involved in the operation blowing horns after the route was unblocked, flooded social media. The Ever Given sailed to the Great Bitter Lake, a wide stretch of water halfway between the north and south ends of the canal, for inspection, said Evergreen Marine Corp., a Taiwan-based shipping company that operates the ship.
URGENT: #SuezUnblockedThe #EVERGIVEN is now moving. #SuezLiveonMTpic.twitter.com/WC6IHuQ4PS
MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) March 29, 2021
: The #EVERGIVEN vessel is sailing North in the #SuezCanel. #Suez#SuezUnblocked#SuezBLOCKED#Evergreenpic.twitter.com/jm3AgOgAJZ
Mohammed Soliman (@ThisIsSoliman) March 29, 2021
The canal is a source of national pride and crucial revenue for Egypt, and President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi praised Monday’s events after days of silence about the blockage. Egyptians have succeeded in ending the crisis, he wrote on Facebook, despite the massive technical complexity.
The Egyptian Team of the Tug boat Mashhour (pronounced mash- hoor) celebrates the success of freeing the #EverGiven After it got stuck in the Suez Canal.They are chanting: Mashhour is number 1 pic.twitter.com/kZfFYvLP5f
Anas Alhajji (@anasalhajji) March 29, 2021
However, as most celebrated the occasion, mostly trade and maritime officials, rescue crews, and politicians, netizens were upset that the entertaining subject which spewed torrents of memes and jokes, came to an end, urging salvage teams to “put it back”. Twitter was flooded with memes and GIFs and ‘Put it back’ dominated social media trends.
THERE WAS SOMETHING DEEPLY COMFORTING ABOUT THE BOAT BEING STUCK AND I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF THEY COULD PUT IT BACK
NOT A WOLF (@SICKOFWOLVES) March 29, 2021
THE BOAT’S UNSTUCK?? PUT IT BACK RN PUT IT BACK pic.twitter.com/XfHAU64ohH
olivia (@olivia_chsm) March 29, 2021
PUT IT BACK, PUT THAT SHIP BACK RIGHT NOW pic.twitter.com/IOKgTVfRld
some bones in space (@undeadartclub) March 29, 2021
some people aren’t brave enough to stand by their convictions, but I’m going to say it: put the boat back now.
ikhail Klimentov (@LeaderGrev) March 29, 2021
PUT IT BACK AND ADD ANOTHER SHIP! pic.twitter.com/t0pLFQWe1L
Joshua Seth (@joshuaseth) March 29, 2021
twitter: put it back
suez canal crew: huh
twitter: pic.twitter.com/qOhLctRxqf
Indy (@IndecisiveJones) March 29, 2021
PUT IT BACK NOW THAT BOAT WAS THE ONLE THING KEEPING ME TOGETHER pic.twitter.com/acZLKF8ICv
e! (@ethxovrk) March 29, 2021
Soon, #SuezUnblocked started to trend on Twitter and many jokes followed. While some cracked jokes to compare the unblocking scenes with that from Mama Mia! others debated who should be credited for the important mission, from cast of Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle to Superman, people came up with many names leaving social media abuzz. Some even compared what it must feel like now that the canal is freed.
Check out some of the funniest reaction from ‘Suez Canal Freed’ trend here:
as they unblocked the suez canal… i couldn’t help but wonder who would unblock my heart pic.twitter.com/hHsU5WTQqQ
gabe bergado (@gabebergado) March 29, 2021
I can literally hear the heartbeats of the next pilot who’s lined up next to cross the Suez Canal after Ever Given ship exits. Man’s nervous. And that’s totally understandable.#Suez#SuezBLOCKED#SuezUnblocked#SuezCanalpic.twitter.com/ufMEiI8sRT
Guy With The Digger At Suez Canal (@SuezDiggerGuy) March 29, 2021
the Suez Canal today pic.twitter.com/JA4kFguEtK
Carrie Wittmer (@carriesnotscary) March 29, 2021
They unblocked the suez canal pic.twitter.com/LPwuHp56bc
Nico Correia (@notn1co) March 29, 2021
they unblocked the Suez Canal pic.twitter.com/HMP1S2hC6e
Madman Films (@MadmanFilms) March 30, 2021
Images coming in of the fleet of tugs that unblocked the Suez canal #Heroespic.twitter.com/3UETKcvpeb
Dr James Stubbing (@StubbingScience) March 29, 2021
They unblocked the suez canal pic.twitter.com/Z2RSBMiKtS
amigo de gabi da ae4 (@arrobavinisso) March 30, 2021
They unblocked the Suez Canal pic.twitter.com/qkNCTIlwHi
Sandi Bohle, MA, MFA, AMFT (@Solasdesigns) March 30, 2021
And thats how the Ever Given re-floated in Suez Canal #TataSafari#SuezUnblockedpic.twitter.com/hCU4mEiaum
Aariz Rizvi (@AarizRizvi) March 29, 2021
Finally it’s freed and this is how#SuezCrisis#SuezUnblockedpic.twitter.com/OxsCmUvQqu
Tanaya Nayak (@TanayaNayak6) March 29, 2021
Found a pic of the team that unblocked the Suez Canal pic.twitter.com/SIPW5Z8vab
Alain Xiong-Calmes (@Alain_Mower) March 29, 2021
The Suez canal blockage captured the world’s attention, but sea lanes are not as important as many claim https://t.co/MvkOe7YRrf
The Ever Given container vessel is finally freed
This is how they did it @pettet50@alisonleary1@HereBeProof@JohnWest_JAWS@2Tone4Realpic.twitter.com/NTe4DZyLee
nigelj (@nigelj08223325) March 30, 2021
Hundreds of ships are waiting to pass through the canal which links the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, which is one of the world’s busiest trade routes. Lt. Gen. Osama Rabei, head of the Suez Canal Authority, adding that the first ships that were moving carried livestock.
[with inputs from AP]
