Oil tanker breaks down in Egypt’s Suez Canal, briefly disrupting traffic in the global waterway
CAIRO –
A tanker transporting crude oil broke down in a single-lane a part of Egypt’s Suez Canal on Sunday, briefly disrupting site visitors within the international waterway, Egyptian authorities stated.
The Malta-flagged Seavigour suffered a mechanical malfunction on the 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) mark of the canal, stated George Safwat, a spokesperson for Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority. The tanker was transiting the canal from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea
In a cellphone interview with an area tv station, Adm. Ossama Rabei, head of the Suez Canal Authority, stated the tanker broke down in a single-lane a part of the waterway, disrupting the transit of eight different vessels behind it.
Hours later, Rabei stated in a press release that navigation on the canal had returned to regular after three tugboats towed the tanker to a double-lane half on the 17 kilometres (10.5 miles) mark. He stated that the Seavigour ‘s crew was engaged on repairing the malfunction however didn’t share additional particulars.
The Seavigour was in-built 2016, and is 274 metres (899 ft) lengthy and 48.63 metres (159 ft) extensive, in accordance with MarineTraffic, a vessel monitoring service supplier
Sunday’s incident was the most recent case of a vessel reported caught within the very important waterway. A flurry of ships ran aground or broke down within the Suez Canal over the previous few years.
On May 25, a Hong Kong-flagged ship briefly blocked the canal. On March 5, a Liberia-flagged ship ran aground within the two-lane a part of the waterway. Both vessels had been refloated hours later.
In March 2021, the Panama-flagged Ever Given, a colossal container ship, crashed right into a financial institution on a single-lane stretch of the canal, blocking the waterway for six days and disrupting international commerce.
The canal, which opened in 1869, supplies an important hyperlink for oil, pure fuel and cargo. About 10% of world commerce flows by means of the canal, a serious supply of international foreign money for the Egyptian authorities.
According to the Suez Canal Authority, final 12 months, 23,851 vessels handed by means of the waterway, in comparison with 20,649 vessels in 2021. The income from the canal in 2022 reached US$8 billion, the best in its historical past.
