Suez canal

The huge container ship that disrupted global marine traffic after it blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week in March has been released and set sail Wednesday after spending months under seizure.

The 1,400-foot-long Ever Given, which carries cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground and jammed the single-lane stretch of the canal on March 23 before it was re-floated six days later in a massive salvage operation.

A ceremony was held at the canal to mark the departure of the Panama-flagged ship and television broadcast showed the vessel finally leaving after being stuck in a holding lake in the middle of the Suez Canal for months as canal authorities and the ship owners negotiated a compensation deal after the six-day blockage threw international supply chains into disarray, paralyzing one of the world’s most crucial waterways.