CAIRO (RockedBuzz via Reuters) – Tugboats have refloated a large vessel that had become stranded in the Suez Canal, shipping agent Leth Agencies said on Thursday, allowing flows through one of the world’s busiest waterways to return to normal.
Leth identified the vessel as the 190-metre (623 ft) Xin Hai Tong 23, a bulk carrier.
“The Suez Canal Authority successfully refloated M/V XIN HAI TONG 23 at 07:40 (04:40 GMT). The northbound convoy will enter at 09:30,” Leth Agencies said in a statement. a tweet.
In a statement, canal authorities said they had been notified of an engine malfunction and had deployed tugboats to successfully refloat the vessel. The process was briefly delayed by the vessel’s winch failure, they added.
The authority confirmed that “maritime activity in both directions will return to normal as soon as the towing process is finished, as a precautionary measure”.
Leth had previously tweeted that the vessel had been grounded at 4 a.m. local time, disrupting at least two convoys of vessels.
Shipping data from Refinitiv Eikon had shown that the vessel, which sails under the flag of Hong Kong, was “not under command” near the southern end of the channel. Initially she was angled aft abutting the eastern side of the channel, but the vessel appeared to have been moved towards the center and pointed due south.
Trackers showed three Egyptian tugboats circling the vessel.
The vessel had departed from the port of Dhuba in Saudi Arabia. She is owned by Xiang B12 HK International Ship Lease and is managed by Tosco Keymax International Ship Management.
About 12% of world trade passes through the Suez Canal, the shortest sea route between Europe and Asia.
During high winds in 2021, a huge container ship, the Ever Given, stuck through the Suez Canal, blocking traffic in both directions for six days and disrupting global trade.
Last year, tugboats refloated a tanker that had run aground briefly in the channel following a technical rudder failure, while the failure of a container ship in the channel caused minor delays in March.
(Reporting by Hatem Maher and Ahmed Tolba; Writing by Nafisa Eltahir, Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Christian Schmollinger and Lincoln Feast)
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