Waterloo Region Record

Oil tanker breaks down in Egypt’s Suez Canal

A flurry of ships have run aground or broken down in the Suez Canal over the past few years

A tanker transporting crude oil broke down in a singlelane part of Egypt’s Suez Canal on Sunday, briefly disrupting traffic in the global waterway, Egyptian authorities said.

The Malta-flagged Seavigour suffered a mechanical malfunction at the 12- kilometre mark of the canal, said George Safwat, a spokesperson for Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority. The tanker was transiting from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.

In a phone interview with a local television station, Adm. Ossama Rabei, the head of the canal authority, said the disabled tanker disrupted the transit of eight other vessels behind it.

Hours later, Rabei said that navigation at the canal had returned to normal after three tugboats towed the tanker to a double-lane part at the 17-km mark. He said the Seavigour’s crew was working on repairing the malfunction but did not share additional details.

Sunday’s incident was the latest case of a vessel reported stuck in the vital waterway. A flurry of ships have run aground or broken down in the Suez Canal over the past few years.

On May 25, a Hong Kong-flagged ship briefly blocked the canal. On March 5, a Liberia-flagged ship ran aground in the two-lane part of the waterway.

In March 2021, the Panamaflagged Ever Given crashed into a bank on a single-lane stretch of the canal, blocking the waterway for six days and disrupting global trade.

CANADA & WORLD

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2023-06-05T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-06-05T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://waterloorecord.pressreader.com/article/281659669433110

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