Over 200 ships are stuck in a maritime traffic jam on Friday because of the giant container ship stuck in the Suez Canal, according to reports.

Some vessels have diverted course to avoid the jam as efforts remain to free the cargo ship Ever Given, according to the Associated Press.

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Authorities in Egypt are working to move a giant container ship stuck in the Suez Canal. 

The blockage is causing traffic in one of the world’s busiest shipping areas, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

? Suez canal blockage seen from space ?
Airbus-built Pléiades high-res. satellite image ?taken this morning, showing a container ship stuck in the canal. pic.twitter.com/YOuz1NEXk8

— Airbus Space (@AirbusSpace) March 25, 2021

Admiral Osama Rable, Chairman and Managing Director of the Suez Canal Authority, announced that navigation through the canal is temporarily suspended. 

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The ship called the Ever Given became stuck in the canal sideways on Tuesday during a dust storm that caused increased wind speeds.

It is more than 1,300 feet long and about 193 feet wide, according to CNBC. Weighing 200,000 tons, one end of the ship is wedged into one side of the canal.  

Crews began working to remove the container but suspended the efforts until Thursday morning. 

Peter Berdowski is the CEO of Boskalis. The Dutch company is helping to remove the ship. 

“We can’t exclude it might take weeks, depending on the situation,” Berdowski said. 

This blockage comes at a time where the global supply chain is struggling to keep up with demand. 

Nearly 19,000 ships passed through the canal in 2020, with an average of 51.5 vessels traveling per day, according to the Suez Canal Authority. 

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Editorial Note: This is a developing story.