Egypt has begun a formal investigation into how a giant container ship blocked the Suez Canal and disrupted global trade for almost a week. Suez Canal Authority (SCA) adviser Sayed Sheaysha said experts would board the Ever Given on Wednesday to obtain data relevant to the incident. The probe will examine the vessel's seaworthiness and the crew's actions. The Ever Given has been anchored in the Great Bitter Lake, the canal's midway point, since being refloated on Monday. The 400m-long (1,312ft), 220,000-tonne ship became wedged diagonally across the waterway on 23 March after running aground amid high winds and a sandstorm that affected visibility. It was freed after a major salvage operation involving a flotilla of powerful tug boats and dredging vessels that shifted an estimated 30,000 cubic metres (1.1m cubic ft) of mud and sand. More than 160 ships have passed through the canal since it was unblocked, as the SCA attempts to clear a traffic jam of 292 vessels waiting to the north and south, according to services provider Leth Agencies. About 12% of global trade passes through the 193km (120-mile) canal, which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea and provides the shortest sea link between Asia and Europe. Mr Sheaysha told Reuters news agency that the captain of the Ever Given as well as the ship's Japanese owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha, had expressed their readiness to co-operate fully with the investigation into the grounding. However, the SCA adviser complained in an interview with Egypt's ON TV on Tuesday that the vessel had failed to respond to an emailed request for it to send over all relevant documents.