Clearing the ships that built up at the Suez Canal while the waterway was blocked by a giant container ship could take four days, although catching up at ports will take longer, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said.

"The backlog of ships will likely take four to five days to be back to normal, Jan Hoffmann, an UNCTAD expert on logistics, told a briefing on Tuesday, adding that it could take several months to clear the knock-on backlog at ports.