Eight tug boats are working to free a large container ship stuck in Egypt’s Suez Canal, halting marine traffic through one of the busiest and most important waterways in the world, writes CNN.

The rescue boats are working to float and release the Ever Given, a 59-meter-wide (193.5-feet) vessel that ran aground after 40-knot winds and a sandstorm caused low visibility and poor navigation, the Suez Canal Authority said in a statement Wednesday.

The 224,000-ton vessel, sailing under a Panama flag, was route to the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands when it was knocked off course.

The ship - which at 400 meters is almost as long as the Empire State Building is tall - is wedged across the vital trade passage at the canal’s 151-kilometer (94-mile) mark, the vessel"s operating company said in a statement.