FIRST, I WANT TO GET YOU SOME BREAKING NEWS FROM THE SUEZ CANAL. THE SHIP IS FREE ON THE EVERGREEN. IT WAS ONE OF THE LARGEST SHIPS TO SAIL THE SEAS ON THE MUDDY BANKS OF THE SUEZ CANAL. EARLIER, WORKERS MANAGED TO DISLAKE GEORGE THE STERN. THE SHIP HAD BEEN STOPPED ROCK SOLID IN THE MUD FOR NEARLY A WEEK. FREEING UP THE CANAL FOR SHIPPING TRAFFIC CANNOT COME SOON ENOUGH. BUSINESSES AROUND THE WORLD WERE ALREADY FEELING THE PANDEMIC. THE SHIPPING SLOWDOWN WAS THE LAST THING THAT THEY NEEDED. MORE THAN 350 VESSELS HAVE BEEN WAITING TO USE THE CANAL. VISITORS ARE TAKING THE LONG WAY AROUND AFRICA. SOON IT COULD BE MONTHS TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE TO THE GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN, CNN'S BEN WEDEMAN IS IN CAIRO. DEFTEROUS IS THERE. >> Reporter: FINALLY THEY SUCCEEDED SINCE LAST TUESDAY IN FREEING THE SPIRE SHIP, BRINGING IT BACK TOO THE MIDDLE OF THAT STRETCH OF THE SUEZ CANAL AND IT IS NOW ON ITS WAY NORTH TO THE GREAT BITTER LAKE WHERE WE HEARD FROM OSAMA ROBIA, THE CHAIRMAN OF THE SUEZ CANAL AUTHORITY. IT WOULD GO TO BE CHECKED TO MAKE SURE THAT THE SHIP IS STILL SEAWORTHY AFTER THIS TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE, BUT, REALLY, IT START FAREED THE EARLY HOURS OF TODAY, MONDAY. IT WAS A ROLLER COASTER OF HOPES AND EXPECTATIONS, JUST BEFORE SUNRISE. THE NEWS CAME OUT THAT THE DREDGING OPERATION ALONG WITH TUGBOATS WAS ABLE TO FREE THE STERN OF THE SHIP AND LARGELY MOVE IT OUT OF SORT OF ITS BLOCKING POSITION IN THE CANAL. BUT THERE WERE POINTS DURING THE DAY WHEN IT APPEARED STRONG WINDS PUSHED IT BACK, BLOCKING THE CANAL AGAIN. BUT NOW, FORTUNATELY, THE CANAL IS OPENED, ACCORDING TO CHAIRMAN OF THE SUEZ CANAL AUTHORITY, NAVIGATION HAS RESUMED IN THE CANAL. AND THERE HAVE BEEN CELEBRATIONS. THE SHIPS IN THE CANAL BLOWING THEIR HORNS. I'D LIKE TO SAY THE HORNS BEHIND ME IN CAIRO ARE BLOWING IN CELEBRATION AS WELL. BUT I THINK THEY'RE JUST BLOWING THEIR HORNS. BUT I IMAGINE MOST EGYPTIANS AT THIS MOMENT ARE SAYING, GOOD RIDDANCE TO THE EVERGIVEN. >> ABSOLUTELY. BEN IS IN CAIRO. JD, YOU HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT THE GLOBAL BUSINESS IMPLICATIONS OF WHAT HAS SEEN THIS SKYSCRAPER-SIZE SHIP, WHICH IS NOW A WRENCH AWAY FROM THE CANAL'S BANK, IT IS BEING TOWED AWAY AS BEN SUGGESTED. JUST WHAT SORT OF DISRUPTION HAS THIS CAUSED? >> Reporter: WELL, I TELL YOU, THIS IS A PARKING LOT OF VESSEL, STILL, PECKY. SO YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT TRYING TO UNWIND THESE BACKLOG THAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW. SO WE PEAK AT ALMOST 370 SHIPS AND THE VOLUME THERE THAT WE HAVE IN THE CANAL IN A NORMAL DAY IS ABOUT 50. NOW, THIS IS GOING TO BE INTERESTING TO SEE HOW MUCH THEY CAN ACCELERATE. THE EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT SAID, PRESIDENT ASSISI ACCELERATED, MAXIMUM CAPACITY ACCORDING TO GEORGE'S LIST IS 80-TO-90 VESSELS A DAY. YOU HAVE TO REV UP, GET THEM IN POSITION AND MAKE SURE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS ARE TAKEN HERE. THE BEST CASE, FIVE-TO-SIX DAYS TO CLEAR THE BACKLOG OF SHIPS WAITING THERE ALREADY. HE WAS SAYING SIX DAYS. THE LARGEST SHIPPING COMPANY IN THE WORLD. WE HAVE AT LEAST TEN VESSELS HAVE HAVE LIVESTOCK. WE HEARD A LOT ABOUT THE CATTLE EARLY ON. WE ARE EAGER TO HEAR THAT. MAYBE 370 OVERALL, 10% CARRYING OIL AND GAS, PETRO CHEMICALS. VERY CRITICAL SUPPLIES NEED TO GO INTO LEBANON IN SYRIA, PAUSE THEY'RE SHORT OF FUEL. THE ECONOMIES ARE IN CRISIS RIGHT NOW. TO YOUR POINT ON THE SUPPLY CHAIN, WE HAVE AUTO PARTS, TEXTILE, FOOD STUFF ALL LOCKED UP AT THIS STAGE. NORMALLY WE HAVE $10 A DAY AFTER THE VALUE, $400 MILLION AN HOUR. THAT HAS STALLED. IN EFFECT, WE HAD DOZENS OF SHIPS THAT SAID WE WILL GO TO THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. TO THE SOUTHERN TIP OF AMERICA, INTO EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES, BECAUSE THEY LOST HOPE AND PATIENCE RIGHT NOW. SO THERE IS A COMPETENCE ISSUE, OF COURSE, FOR THE SUEZ CANAL BEFORE AND NOW AGAIN AFTER THIS. CAN YOU DELIVER ON ALL THE DEMAND OF THIS KEY ARTERY GOING FORWARD IS A CRUCIAL QUESTION THAT WE HAVE TODAY. BUT THINK ABOUT THE OPTION HERE, BECK WHY I, IF YOU DIDN'T UNLOCK IT AND GET IT MOVING, YOU WILL HAVE TO HAVE A CRANE TRY TO UNLOAD THOSE CONTAINERS AND PUT THEM IN EVEN ANOTHER SHIP OR ON THE SIDE, IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN DAY, IF NOT WEEKS, TO DO IT. SO THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY TONIGHT SAYS, SHEESH, WHAT A RELIEF. THAT'S THE ANSWER. >> YEAH. ABSOLUTELY. AND, BEN, THOSE WHO SAY THIS HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST CRISIS IN THE CANAL SINCE THE 1956 -- ALLUDING, OF COURSE, TO THE SUEZ CRISIS. AND IT IS KNOWN. THE EGYPTIANS WILL NOT WANT ANOTHER CRISIS IN THIS ARTERY OF LIFE ANY TIME SOON, WILL IT? >> Reporter: NO, OF COURSE, NOT. WE DID SEE BETWEEN 2014 AND 2015, EGYPT AT THE INSPIRATION OF A PRESIDENT ASSISSI SPENT $8 BILLION TO CREATE AN EXTRA LANE TO THE SUEZ CANAL, TO FACILITATE FURTHER PASSAGE OF SHIPS, BUT THEY DIDN'T DO IT IN THAT PARTICULAR AREA. AND, OF COURSE, THE EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT PROMISED EGYPTIANS THAT THERE WOULD BE REAL DIVIDENDS IN TERMS OF ECONOMIC RETURNS FROM THAT MASSIVE PROJECT AND THEY HAVEN'T REALLY MATERIALIZED. AND, OF COURSE, ONE OF THE LONG-TERM WORRIES REGARDING THE SUEZ CANAL IS THAT OTHER OPTIONS ARE COMING UP. THE CHINESE BELT AND ROAD PROJECTS, THE REPORT OF PIPELINES FROM THE GULF TO ISRAEL, TALK ABOUT OPENING UP ARCTIC ROUTES BETWEEN ASIA AND EUROPE. AND SO THE SUEZ CANAL, A PART OF THE REASON WHY IT WAS EXPANDED WAS IN ANTICIPATION OF THESE SORT OF PROJECTS, BUT, YES, THE SUEZ CANAL OPENED IN 1869 WITH A LOT OF PROMISE, BUT IT WAS CLOSED FOR EIGHT MONTHS BETWEEN 1956 AND '57, AFTER THE '56 WAR, IT WAS CLOSED FROM 1967 TO 1975 BECAUSE OF OTHER HOSTILITIES BETWEEN ISRAEL AND ITS ARAB NEIGHBORS. SO IT'S HAD A ROCKY HISTORY AND IT HASN'T EVER REALLY LIVED UP TO THE PROMISE THAT THE MAN WHO CAME UP WITH THE IDEA OF THE SUEZ CANAL HAD DREAMED OF, IT WAS NEVER REALLY REALIZED. CERTAINLY, THIS INCIDENT OF THE PAST WEEK UNDERSCORES THE VULNERABILITIES OF THE SUEZ CANAL. HAVING SAID THAT, WE HAVE SEEN AN INCREDIBLE EFFORT BY THE EGYPTIANS ANDER THAT PARTNERS, THE DUTCH AND THE JAPANESE AND OTHERS TO FINALLY GET THIS CANAL UP AND RUNNING AGAIN. >> ABSOLUTE
