Shipping giant Maersk said according to its estimations it would take 3-6 days for stranded ships and vessels to pass the Suez Canal once the ship, ‘Ever Given’, that has been blocking the canal for 6 days now, refloated.

“Once the canal is reopened, convoys would aim to run continuously, we would expect that it would take 3-6 days for the complete queue to pass, conditional to safety and other operational circumstances,” Maersk said in a statement issued on Sunday

“While ETAs are jeopardised as salvage efforts continue, it is too early to indicate the total delay of our vessels.”

As more vessels either reach the blockage or are redirected, this is an estimate and is subject to change, the statement added.

The company stated that it had 22 vessels currently waiting in the Suez Canal, which is currently blocked by the Ever Given, which has been wedged diagonally across its waterway since Tuesday

Maersk shared a planned schedule for their vessels stuck in the Suez Canal and those given orders to redirect to go to the Cape of Good hope.

15 vessels were redirected to the Cape of Good Hope the company said, as the delay of sailing around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa was deemed equal to the current delay of sailing through the Suez and queuing.

“We do not expect to redirect any further ships during the weekend based on this analysis. New calculations on redirecting additional vessels will be made on Monday, considering the weekends’ salvage attempts.”

The 400-metre-long, 59-metre-wide Ever Given, which was coming from China, veered off course and ran aground as it was traversing the international trade route on Tuesday morning.