Cargo ship draws Suez Canal blockage comparisons after becoming stuck in Cambridge river

A cargo ship carrying timber has become stuck in a river in Cambridgeshire.

The Baltic Arrow became wedged in the River Nene, in Wisbech, at around 9am on Tuesday morning while on its way to the port.

It had travelled to the east of England from Brunsbuettel in Germany, according to global ship tracking website, MarineTraffic.

The captain of the 80m-long ship reported the “grounding” and video footage showed the vessel diagonally positioned in the river.

In Cambridge, a small red tug boat was seen desperately trying to free the cargo ship by pushing or pulling it free from the river banks, with no success.

The incident has been likened to the blockage of the Suez Canal in 2021, when the gigantic Ever Given container ship held up billions in global trade after it was stuck in the vital waterway for nearly a week.

A Wisbech Port spokesperson told the Daily Mail the incident in Cambridge was a “rare situation” but because the tide had fallen the plan was to wait “until [the] vessel is afloat at next high water to free her from the banks”.

They added: “All berths at Wisbech port are NAABSA berths which stand for ‘not always afloat but safely aground’ so technically all vessels ground whilst moored here during low water.

“The river bed is very soft and sludgy here and the vessel is designed to safely ground so we are confident of no ongoing issues.”