'The Ever Given of the Fens' - Ship gets wedged across river in echo of Suez blockage

It's being called the Ever Given of the Fens... a cargo ship is blocking the River Nene after running aground, in an echo of the 2021 incident when a vessel got wedged across the Suez Canal.

The ship, the Baltic Arrow, has been stuck around two miles downstream from Wisbech since just before 9am, with its hull lodged into both banks.

The vessel is almost 262ft long and almost 40ft wide and was carrying timber to Wisbech from Riga in Latvia.

The vessel was sailing from Latvia to Wisbech (Image: Chris Bishop)

The Baltic Arrow is around 260ft long (Image: Chris Bishop)

The cargo ship, which was built in 2002, is sailing under the flag of St Kitts and Nevis and none of the crew are believed to have been injured.

There are understood to have been six crew and two local pilots on board.

Efforts were made to free the ship using a tug boat, but without success.

READ MORE: Plans to convert Elme Hall Hotel at Wisbech into flats

It is hoped that tonight's high tide at around 8pm will fill the river enough to re-float the vessel and carry it away - but this was not the case for the German ship, Lagik, which became stuck in the Nene back in 2000.

It is hoped that tonight's high tide will refloat it (Image: Chris Bishop)

The weight of the ship caused its back to break and the Wisbech port in Cambridgeshire was blocked for a total of 44 days.

Sightseers have flocked to the scene to catch a glimpse of the bizarre blockage.

Sightseers have flocked to catch a glimpse of it (Image: Chris Bishop)

Rachel Horn, who lives nearby, said: "I wanted to show the kids because me and my husband saw the Lagik get stuck 24 years ago - we never thought we would see it again."

18-year-old Chloe added: "It's much bigger than I thought it would be".

"It's a bit scary," commented Kerry, 15.

The incident echoes a similar event in March 2021 when a cargo vessel ran aground in the Suez Canal, blocking the global shipping lane.

The giant 200,000-ton cargo ship called the Ever Given - the size of four football pitches - drifted across the entire width of the Suez Canal and became lodged for several days.