CAIRO (BLOOMBERG) - A giant container ship ran aground in the Suez Canal, blocking off traffic in both directions on one of the world's busiest maritime trade routes that's vital for the movement of oil to liquefied natural gas.

The 400-metre long container ship Ever Given's hull became wedged length-ways across the canal Tuesday (March 23), causing a pile-up of at least 100 vessels seeking to transit between the Red Sea and Mediterranean, according to ship brokers and mapping data compiled by Bloomberg.