Business & Economy

Oil tanker refloated after brief breakdown in Egypt’s Suez Canal

Cairo, Jun 4 (EFE).- Tugboats towed an oil tanker after it ran aground in Egypt’s Suez Canal and disrupted the marine traffic in the vital waterway for several hours on Sunday, official sources said.

The Malta-flagged Seavigour, which is 274 meters long and 48.63 meters wide, had a mechanical malfunction on its way from Russia to China, the canal authority (SCA) head Osama Rabiee said in a Twitter statement.

“Everything is under control,” Rabiee said, adding that the shipping traffic had resumed normally in both directions after the vessel’s malfunction was repaired.

He stressed that the SCA has all the necessary salvage expertise as well as the required navigational and technical safety potentials to deal with any potential emergency in a professional manner.

Five vessels have broken down in the Suez Canal so far this year, including the Hong Kong-flagged Xin Hai Tong 23 while en-route from Saudi Arabia, and the MSC Istanbul container ship which forced some traffic to be diverted while heading to Portugal from Malaysia.

In March 2021, the colossal container ship Ever Given blocked the canal for almost a week after it went aground amid strong winds and a sandstorm, blocking traffic on one of the world’s busiest shipping routes.

Suez Canal revenues are one of Egypt’s main sources of income. In 2022, it generated $8 billion in transit fees. EFE

fa/smq

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