Bulk carrier encountered mechanical issue while transiting Suez Canal in southern direction, reports Metro.
What happened?
A bulk carrier reportedly encountered mechanical issue while transiting Suez Canal in southern direction, en route from Constanta Romania to Port Sudan, Sudan.
According to local media, the bulk carrier was disabled at around 0925 UTC Sep 9 near kilometer 53 mark point in the canal in Egypt.
Traffic diversion
The Suez Canal Authority was forced to temporarily suspend navigation in one lane of the crucial global waterway while work to free the ship was ongoing.
Four ships going towards Suez from Port Said were diverted into a separate lane as a result of the blockage.
Refloated and channel reopened
The 738 feet long and 104 feet wide vessel en route to Port Sudan on the Red Sea was successfully refloated a short time later and the channel was reopened.
Canal widening plans
The latest incident comes after the Ever Given — one of the largest container ships ever built – got stuck in the canal for six days in March, prompting chaos in worldwide shipping.
For more information read our article Suez Canal Blockage’s Ripple Effect Affects Shipping Industry
The grounding of the 400m ship cost companies billions as goods could not be shipped around the world.
Specialist teams worked flat out for nearly a week on the huge operation to clear the blockage and one rescue worker died.
The canal authority is working on a multi-billion dollar project to widen sections of the canal in the hope that it can prevent large ships becoming blocked again.
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Source: Metro
