[ti:Ship Blocking Suez Canal Finally Freed] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:01.76]Specialty teams on Monday set free a large container ship [00:08.36]that had stopped international trade through the Suez Canal. [00:14.76]For nearly one week, [00:17.16]the ship has brought one of the world’s most important [00:21.80]sea trade routes to a complete stop. [00:26.20]It held up nearly $9 billion of trade each day. [00:32.72]Several tugboats pulled the large ship, called the Ever Given, [00:39.04]from the canal’s side, where it has been stuck since last Tuesday. [00:45.80]The teams pulled the 220,000-ton ship toward the Great Bitter Lake, [00:54.60]which is halfway between the north and south end of the canal. [01:00.32]Experts will examine the ship there. [01:04.28]Video released by the Suez Canal Authority [01:08.76]showed the Ever Given moving, [01:11.52]surrounded by the tugboats that helped free it. [01:15.68]The tugboats sounded their horns to celebrate the end of the crisis. [01:22.96]“We pulled it off!” said Peter Berdowski, the head of Boskalis, [01:29.96]the specialty company that was asked to move the Ever Given. [01:35.36]He said his team and experts from the Suez Canal Authority [01:40.64]had “successfully refloated the Ever Given… [01:44.64]thereby making free passage through the Suez Canal possible again.” [01:51.28]It remained unclear when ships will be permitted [01:55.72]to enter the canal for normal passage. [01:59.44]At least 367 ships, carrying everything from oil to cattle, [02:07.20]are waiting to pass at both ends of the canal. [02:12.48]It is estimated that it could take more than 10 days [02:17.36]to clear the number of waiting ships. [02:20.56]Many ships did not wait and left [02:23.56]to travel around the Cape of Good Hope at Africa’s southern tip. [02:29.88]That route takes two weeks longer because it adds 5,000-kilometers. [02:36.60]It also costs hundreds of thousands of dollars more. [02:42.12]The freeing of the Ever Given succeeded after heavy equipment [02:47.56]pulled up dirt that was holding the front of the ship in place. [02:53.32]Ten tugboats pushed and pulled it for five days. [02:57.76]Early Monday morning the ship began to pull free. [03:02.28]It was not clear if the Ever Given would continue [03:06.80]to its original destination, Rotterdam, or if it would go to a port for repairs. [03:14.72]The Ever Given flies the flag of Panama [03:18.52]and is owned by a Japanese company. [03:22.16]It normally carries goods from Asia to Europe. [03:26.72]Officials did not offer a time for the canal to reopen. [03:31.72]The Suez Canal carries over 10 percent of international trade, [03:37.48]including seven percent of the world’s oil. [03:41.76]Over 19,000 ships passed through last year, said canal officials. [03:48.64]Millions of barrels of oil and gas move through the canal [03:53.44]from the Persian Gulf to Europe and North America. [03:57.60]Goods made in China that are being carried to Europe [04:01.56]also must go through the canal, [04:04.12]or else take the longer route around Africa. [04:08.68]The shutdown had threatened to stop [04:11.40]oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Middle East. [04:15.96]It caused fears of extended delays, shortages and rising costs [04:22.08]for most of the world’s economies. [04:25.04]The operation to free the Ever Give succeeded [04:29.04]using only the tugboats and other heavy equipment. [04:32.96]Canal officials did not have to lighten the ship [04:36.68]by removing its 20,000 containers. [04:41.40]I’m Susan Shand. [04:46.12]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM