Last week the Suez Canal came to a standstill as a huge container ship called Ever Given ran aground in the southern part of the canal on Tuesday (23 March), blocking traffic from both sides. The 200,000-tonne tanker, operated by Taiwanese company Evergreen Marine, is one of the world's largest container ships, stretching the length of four football pitches, and was en route from China to Rotterdam. Last Thursday the canal was officially suspended as the authorities continued to work to dislodge Ever Given. Images of small diggers at the shore trying to dig out the massive ship have gone around the world. On Monday (29 March) it was reported that the stern of the ship had been freed from the shore by tug boats but the bow remains stuck, with efforts continuing to dig it out. Every day it remains stuck the ship is holding up an estimated $9.6 billion (£6.9bn) of goods.

Click or scroll on to see how much of the world's trade passes through the canal today and why it's so important...