The Japanese owner of the giant cargo ship that has been blocking Egypt's Suez Canal since Tuesday has apologised for the disruption to global trade, the BBC reports.
Shoei Kisen Kaisha said it was trying to resolve the situation as soon as possible, but that dislodging the Ever Given container carrier was proving extremely difficult.
Marine and salvage engineers failed in their latest attempt on Thursday.
The 400m-long (1,300ft), 200,000-ton vessel became wedged across the canal amid high winds and a dust storm.
Evergreen Marine, the Taiwanese company that operates the ship, has said salvage experts are working with the captain and the Suez Canal Authority to design a more effective plan for refloating it.
The blockage is creating long tailbacks in the waterway, with more than 150 vessels currently waiting in the area to pass.
About 12 percent of global trade passes through the canal, which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea and provides the shortest sea link between Asia and Europe.
An alternative route, around the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa, can take two weeks longer.
"In co-operation with local authorities and Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, a vessel management company, we are trying to refloat [the Ever Given], but we are facing extreme difficulty," the owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha, said in a statement on Thursday.
"We sincerely apologise for causing a great deal of worry to ships in the Suez Canal and those planning to go through the canal," it added.
Industry sources told Reuters news agency that even if the Ever Given was refloated quickly its owner and insurers faced claims totalling millions of dollars for the delays and extra costs accrued by other companies.-Photos: AP/CNES2021, DISTRIBUTION AIRBUS DS/Reuters/BBC
Ever Given owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha of Japan says 'we are trying to refloat' the container ship, 'but we are facing extreme difficulty.'
