At least, that's how the situation appears to be at the moment. No tugs, no mystery ship beacons, even the Chinese heavy lifter has departed to the south. I have to assume the new dredge boat is in the lake, but it isn't pinging, and I don't believe it's a major factor in this story, anyway.

TL;DR: There's a crap ton of unanswered questions about the whole EG story, both from the day of the grounding to suspicious activity in the Lake that continues to this day.

It's the mystery ship that comes and goes that is nagging at me. I realize that it most likely is switching off its transponder, rather than some kind of Philadelphia Experiment redux (look that one up if you aren't savvy....wild story). This mystery ship beacon, for a couple of days in a row, appears as a cargo ship. Yesterday was the first time I saw it close enough to the EG to actually be lashed to her, for quite a few hours, then a couple of hours floating very close nearby (.1 nm) then poof - vanished. No sign of any vessel exiting the lake to north or south, and that transit takes HOURS. I continue to watch for its return.

I find the whole appearance/disappearance of this mystery ship to be very suspicious, as it has been so close to the EG. Is she a cargo ship with cranes, and is she offloading containers or other bulk goods? Or is she a ship of a different kind, offloading other "cargo" that doesn't need a crane (but maybe a gangplank??) If all of this was just routine offloading, why the need to disappear all of a sudden, with no declared course? If this is some kind of military op, which would absolutely explain the secrecy, I have to believe the Canal Authority is aware of what's going on, and is taking steps to keep other vessels away from the lake at opportune hours in the night. For all we know, such an operation could be happening right now.

Speaking of the Suez Canal Authority, there are a few unanswered questions. We are told that the SCA wants $1B from the ship's owners before they'll let Big EG free. The Japanese owners of the EG seem to be agreeable to this, and do not want to litigate a lesser sum in court. Just write a big fat check to make it go away. If it was an accident, why not litigate for a lesser sum? My guess is, they want to avoid discovery. This lends credence to the theory that this EG grounding was NOT an accident, and there are VIPs who are willing to pay any price to keep this quiet. The MSM might try to help accomplish this, but I don't know that they'll be successful.

And the crew. 25 aboard, all from India. We're told they're being well taken care of, and the investigation into the grounding incident might wrap up by this weekend (Sauce: https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/100812/Probe-into-accident-of-Ever-Given-vessel-in-Suez-Canal ) But up to this point, there's been no mention of what actually happened on March 23. You'd think there'd be a quote somewhere by someone aboard attesting to a runaway ship (the EG was going almost double the speed limit for the canal) and there's been ZERO explanation for the d&b picture the EG "drew" before beginning her canal transit. The whole situation has an air of "move along, nothing to see here" about it, and that's highly suspicious in light of the amount of international trade that was disrupted for such a long time.

I'll continue to keep tabs on the canal for all my frens here, and will get back to a more traditional boatfag report if I learn anything useful. Thanks for reading!