Four days on and the 400m-long Ever Given container ship remains grounded in the Suez Canal, blocking one of the world's busiest channels.
With hundreds of ships waiting either side of the route, there are potentially major ramifications for global trade and concerns that if the ship isn't refloated soon, Kiwi imports could be affected.
There are several operations currently underway in an attempt to free the ship. Eight tugboats are trying to pull and push the Ever Given off the canal's sandbanks, while dredgers are sucking up sand and mud from under the vessel's bow.
A specialised dredger said to be able to move 2000 cubic metres of sand per hour has arrived at the site while pumps are on their way to reduce the canal's water levels. Two more tugboats will reach the ship on Sunday (NZT).
While the world watches in anticipation, the internet naturally has brought a bit of levity to the situation, with social media users sharing their fanciful ideas of how to unblock the canal.
One Twitter user has shared a diagram suggesting a million hairdryers are placed at one end of the ship blowing air towards it in one direction while another million hairdryers send air the other direction at the other end of the ship. That would hopefully straighten the ship.
Another netizen believes the shipping community should just give up on trying to move the ship and instead build a new canal around the section currently blocked.
"Yeah build a new canal and turn the ship into a coffee shop or a department store," a user replied to the idea.
"Dig out the rest of Egypt, building a hotel complex underneath the ship to create a tourist attraction to rival Singapore."
One user shared an image with the front of the Ever Given being lifted by a bunch of balloons similarly to how the house in the Disney Pixar film Up is floated.
Sharing a GIF of a vehicle driving into a bunch of cars, one user appears to suggest ramming the mega-sized ship, hoping to dislodge it from its current position.
Another user who believes we should just accept the ship is staying put says it could be recognised as its own country.
"Just give the stuck freighter a UN intervention and recognise it as an independent nation with its own rights and laws then let someone declare war on it & have the UN do nothing."
A suggestion which has gone viral features a video of a dog quickly building a shallow trench for water to follow.
"They need this dog at the Suez Canal immediately."
One Twitter user's four-year-old thought "a lot of bears with rope" could help move the ship.
The Ever Given became stuck after its believed strong winds blew it off course as it sailed down the narrow stretch of water. There have so far been no reports of pollution, injuries or cargo damage.
