Egyptian authorities said a crude oil tanker broke down in a single-lane section of Egypt’s Suez Canal on Sunday, briefly disrupting traffic in the global waterway.
George Safwat, a spokesman for Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority, said the Maltese-flagged Seavigour suffered a mechanical failure at the 12-kilometre (7.5-mile) mark of the canal.
The tanker was crossing the canal from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.
In a telephone interview with a local TV station, Admiral Osama Rabie, head of the Suez Canal Authority, said the tanker broke down in a one-lane part of the waterway, disrupting the passage of eight other ships behind it.
Hours later, Rabih said in a statement that navigation in the canal returned to normal after three tugboats towed the tanker to a double lane at the 17-kilometre (10.5-mile) mark.
A tug works to refloat the oil tanker Seavigour to the hold at the Suez Canal, near Ismailia, Egypt, on June 4, 2023.
A tug works to refloat the oil tanker Seavigour to the hold at the Suez Canal, near Ismailia, Egypt, on June 4, 2023.
He said the Seavigour crew was working to fix the bug but did not give more details.
Built in 2016, Seavigour measures 899 feet long and 159 feet wide, according to MarineTraffic, a ship-tracking service provider.
Sunday’s incident was the latest reported case of a ship stuck in a vital waterway.
A series of ships have run aground or broke down in the Suez Canal over the past few years.
On May 25, a Hong Kong-flagged ship briefly blocked the channel. On March 5, a Liberian-flagged ship ran aground in the two-lane section of the waterway. Both ships were refloated hours later.
The Seavigour oil tanker after being successfully refloated to the holding area of the Suez Canal, near Ismailia, Egypt, on June 4, 2023.
Pictured: A satellite image shows tugboats alongside the Ever Given on March 29, 2021
In March 2021, a massive Panamanian-flagged container ship collided with a bank on one track stretch of the canal, blocking the waterway for six days.
The outage cost billions of dollars in shipping delays, with Egypt losing between $12m and $15m for each day of the shutdown.
The canal, which opened in 1869, provides an important link for oil, natural gas, and goods. About 10 percent of world trade flows through the canal, and it is a major source of foreign currency for the Egyptian government.
According to the Suez Canal Authority, 23,851 ships passed through the waterway last year, compared to 20,649 ships in 2021. The canal’s revenues in 2022 amounted to $8 billion, the highest in its history.
