LONDON: Saudi Arabia appreciates and supports Egypt’s efforts to efficiently dislodge a giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal, the Kingdom’s foreign ministry said on Saturday. 

A 400 meter long ship called Ever Given became wedged diagonally across a southern section of the canal early on Tuesday, blocking one of the world's busiest waterways.

The Kingdom expressed its great confidence in Egypt's ability to deal with the crisis in the canal based on the country’s rich experiences, capabilities and competency, the ministry said in a statement. 

The statement added that the Kingdom stands with Egypt and is ready to extend its capabilities to support efforts made by the Egyptian authorities to deal with this incident and its consequences.

It added that the Kingdom is in contact with the Egyptian government for this purpose.

About 15 percent of world shipping traffic transits the canal and hundreds of vessels are waiting to pass once the blockage has been cleared.