Two tankers collided in Egypt's Suez Canal, briefly disrupting traffic in the vital waterway
Egyptian authorities say two tankers have collided in a single-lane stretch of the Suez Canal, briefly disrupting traffic through the global waterway
CAIRO — Two tankers carrying oil products and liquefied natural gas collided in a single-lane stretch of the Suez Canal, briefly disrupting traffic through the global waterway before it was cleared, Egyptian authorities said Wednesday.
The Suez Canal Authority said in a statement that the BW Lesmes, a Singapore-flagged tanker that carries liquefied natural gas, suffered a mechanical malfunction in its propulsion and steering systems on Tuesday night. It ran aground after which the Burri, a Cayman Islands-flagged oil products tanker, collided with it at the 144 kilometer (89 mile) -mark of the waterway, the canal said.
The collision disrupted traffic for several hours while the canal authority deployed tugboats to tow the two tankers away. The two were part of a convoy of vessels transiting through the canal from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.
“Traffic will go back to normal in both directions within the coming hours,” Adm. Ossama Rabei, the head of the canal authority, said earlier Wednesday, before tugboats removed the tankers and cleared the waterway.
The authorities blamed the strong currents in this part of the Suez Canal for the collision. The canal services firm Leth Agencies said the incident delayed the transit of 21 southbound vessels that were scheduled to pass through the waterway on Tuesday.
About 10% of world trade flows through the canal, a major source of foreign currency for the Egyptian government.
MarineTraffic, a vessel tracking service provider, released a time-lapse video of the incident that showed the Burri turning to port and colliding with
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