MOSCOW, March 30. /TASS/. More than 100 vessels have passed through the Suez Canal since the navigation in the waterway was restored after the incident with the Ever Given container ship, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Chairman Osama Rabie told a press conference on Tuesday.

"After the resumption of navigation in the Suez Canal, 113 ships, queued up due to the incident with the container ship, passed through it," Rabie said as quoted by the Egyptian newspaper Al-Youm al-Sabia.

The head of the canal authority also stressed that, in his opinion, "the Suez Canal is the safest and most inexpensive" route.

Rabie added that the incident with the bulk carrier had shown that the SCA has all the necessary capabilities to effectively deal with the crisis.

The passage through the Suez Canal was opened on Monday.

The Ever Given container ship, which is owned by the Japanese company Shohei Kisen and sails under the Panamanian flag, blocked the single-lane southern part of the Suez Canal on March 23. Due to strong winds and sandstorms the vessel veered off its course and was lodged at an angle across the waterway.

The ship has a displacement of 220,000 tonnes and a length of 400 meters. It took six days to refloat the vessel with the help of 14 powerful tugs. Before that dredging works were carried out.