An oil tanker caused a temporary disruption to traffic in Egypt’s Suez Canal on Sunday morning after its engine broke down.
The canal is the fastest sea route between Europe and Asia and one of the main sources of foreign currency for the Egyptian government.
Three tugboats were deployed to tow the Malta-registered Seavigour to a nearby port on the northern stretch of the waterway for repairs, Suez Canal Authority spokesman George Safwat said.
The tanker was traveling to China from Russia, and its breakdown is the second incident affecting traffic on the canal in the past two weeks.
On May 25, the Hong Kong-registered Xin Hai Tong 23, which was bound for Egypt from Saudi Arabia, had to be freed by tugboats after its engines also failed.
After Sunday’s blockage, the canal authority played down fears about its ability to deal with blockages on the waterway, saying it had the funds and manpower to handle such incidents “professionally”.
The authority launched a major upgrade to the vital shipping route following a six-day blockade caused by the March 2021 grounding of the Panamanian-registered container ship Ever Given.
The disruption resulted in billions in financial losses for shipping companies.
The canal authority is looking to deepen and widen sections of the 193-kilometer waterway.
Updated: June 4, 2023 at 09:55
