Tugboat drivers rang out late on Saturday to celebrate the most visible sign of progress since the ship ran aground on late Tuesday.

The 220,000 ton ship was moving. It didn’t go far – just two degrees, or about 100 feet, according to shipping officials. This came in addition to progress made Friday when canal officials said the dredgers managed to dig up the ship’s stern and free its rudder.

The company that oversees the operation and crew of the ship, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, said 11 tugs helped, two joined the fight on Sunday. Several dredgers, including a special suction dredger that can move 2,000 cubic meters of material per hour, dug around the bow of the ship.

Rescue workers were determined to free the ship as the spring tide comes in and raised the canal’s water level by up to 18 inches, analysts and shipping agents said.

It’s a delicate mission where the crews try to move the ship without throwing it off balance or breaking it apart.

Since the Ever Given sags in the middle and the bow and stern hang in positions for which they were not designed, the hull is prone to stress and cracks, according to experts. Just as every flood brought hope that the ship could be released, every ebb weighs the ship anew.

Teams of divers inspected the hull throughout the operation and found no damage, officials said. It would need to be checked again once it was completely free.

And it would take time to inspect the canal itself as well to ensure safe passage. With hundreds of ships secured on either side, it can take days for operations to return to normal.

Thomas Erdbrink contributed to the reporting.