The giant container ship that blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week was fully floated on Monday and traffic in the waterway resumed.

According to witnesses, the Ever Given container ship was moving and a shipping tracker and Egyptian TV showed it positioned in the centre of the canal.

Helped by the peak of high tide, a flotilla of tugboats managed to wrench the bulbous bow of the skyscraper-sized vessel from the canal’s sandy bank.

Earlier in the day, Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said the Ever Given container ship was partially refloated and turned in the “right direction”.

The news comes a week after the container ship ran aground in high winds, blocking one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.