The Ever Given was expected to be stuck in the Suez Canal for ‘weeks still’, so how did crews manage to free it?

Salvage teams have finally managed to free the Ever Given, a colossal container ship that was stranded for nearly a week in the Suez Canal.

The successful re-floating mission has ended a crisis that clogged one of the world’s most vital trade routes for oil and grain and other trade linking Asia and Europe.

Just a few days ago, the Suez Canal Authority estimated it could take “weeks still” to free the 400-metre-long vessel. 

That was echoed by Peter Berdowski, the head of Dutch company Boskalis, which helped to free the ship.

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

How did they manage to free the skyscraper-sized ship so fast?