2 tugboats deploy to Egypt's Suez Canal as shippers avoid it

In this photo released by the Suez Canal Authority, tug boats and diggers work to free the Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned Ever Given, which is lodged across the Suez Canal, Sunday, March 28, 2021. Two additional tugboats are speeding to canal to aid efforts to free the skyscraper-sized container ship wedged for days across the crucial waterway. That's even as major shippers increasingly divert their boats out of fear the vessel may take even longer to free. (Suez Canal Authority via AP)

In this photo released by the Suez Canal Authority, tug boats work to free the Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned Ever Given, which is lodged across the Suez Canal, Sunday, March 28, 2021. Two additional tugboats are speeding to canal to aid efforts to free the skyscraper-sized container ship wedged for days across the crucial waterway. That's even as major shippers increasingly divert their boats out of fear the vessel may take even longer to free. (Suez Canal Authority via AP)

Ever Given, a Panama-flagged cargo ship that is wedged across the Suez Canal and blocking traffic in the vital waterway is seen Sunday, March 28, 2021. The massive Ever Given, a Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe, got stuck Tuesday in a single-lane stretch of the canal. In the time since, authorities have been unable to remove the vessel and traffic through the canal has been halted,(AP Photo/Mohamed Elshahed)

In this photo released by the Suez Canal Authority, tug boats approach the Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned Ever Given, which is lodged across the Suez Canal, Sunday, March 28, 2021. Two additional tugboats are speeding to canal to aid efforts to free the skyscraper-sized container ship wedged for days across the crucial waterway. That's even as major shippers increasingly divert their boats out of fear the vessel may take even longer to free. (Suez Canal Authority via AP)

This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows the cargo ship MV Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal near Suez, Egypt, Sunday, March 28, 2021. Two additional tugboats sped Sunday to Egypt's Suez Canal to aid efforts to free the skyscraper-sized container ship wedged for days across the crucial waterway, even as major shippers increasingly divert their boats out of fear the vessel may take even longer to free. (©Maxar Technologies via AP)

This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows excavation work in an atempt to free the cargo ship MV Ever Given that is stuck in the Suez Canal near Suez, Egypt, Sunday, March 28, 2021. Two additional tugboats sped Sunday to Egypt's Suez Canal to aid efforts to free the skyscraper-sized container ship wedged for days across the crucial waterway, even as major shippers increasingly divert their boats out of fear the vessel may take even longer to free. (©Maxar Technologies via AP)

Ever Given, a Panama-flagged cargo ship, that is wedged across the Suez Canal and blocking traffic in the vital waterway is seen Saturday, March 27, 2021. Tugboats and a specialized suction dredger worked to dislodge a giant container ship that has been stuck sideways in Egypt's Suez Canal for the past three days, blocking a crucial waterway for global shipping. (AP Photo/Mohamed Elshahed)

Illustration shows a cross section of the Suez Canal.

This satellite image from Planet Labs Inc. shows the cargo ship MV Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal near Suez, Egypt, Sunday, March 28, 2021. Two additional tugboats sped Sunday to Egypt's Suez Canal to aid efforts to free a skyscraper-sized container ship wedged for days across the crucial waterway, even as major shippers increasingly divert their boats out of fear the vessel may take even longer to free. (Planet Labs Inc. via AP)

In this photo released by the Suez Canal Authority, tug boats work to free the Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned Ever Given, which is lodged across the Suez Canal, Sunday, March 28, 2021. Two additional tugboats are speeding to canal to aid efforts to free the skyscraper-sized container ship wedged for days across the crucial waterway. That's even as major shippers increasingly divert their boats out of fear the vessel may take even longer to free. (Suez Canal Authority via AP)

In this photo released by the Suez Canal Authority, tug boats and dredgers work to free the Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned Ever Given, which is lodged across the Suez Canal, Sunday, March 28, 2021. Two additional tugboats are speeding to canal to aid efforts to free the skyscraper-sized container ship wedged for days across the crucial waterway. That's even as major shippers increasingly divert their boats out of fear the vessel may take even longer to free. (Suez Canal Authority via AP)

This photo released by the Suez Canal Authority shows tug boats and dredgers working to free the Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned Ever Given, which is lodged across the Suez Canal, Sunday, March 28, 2021. Two additional tugboats are speeding to canal to aid efforts to free the skyscraper-sized container ship wedged for days across the crucial waterway. That's even as major shippers increasingly divert their boats out of fear the vessel may take even longer to free. (Suez Canal Authority via AP)

This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows the cargo ship MV Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal near Suez, Egypt, Saturday, March 27, 2021. Authorities are preparing to make new attempts to free the giant container vessel stuck in Egypt's Suez Canal for a fifth day and reopen a crucial east-west waterway for global shipping. (©Maxar Technologies via AP)