Shipping traffic through Egypt’s Suez Canal has resumed after a giant container ship which had been blocking the busy waterway for almost a week was refloated, the canal authority said.

The 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds early last Tuesday, halting traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

Live footage on a local television station showed the ship surrounded by tug boats moving slowly in the centre of the canal. The station, ExtraNews, said the ship was moving at a speed of 1.5 knots.