Re-flotation of a tanker after it ran aground in the Suez Canal – Egyptian Canal Authority

An aerial view of the Gulf of Suez and the Suez Canal through the window of a plane on a flight between Cairo and Doha, Egypt, November 27, 2021. REUTERS/Amr Abdullah Dalsh

CAIRO (Reuters) – The Suez Canal Authority said Qatar boats refloated an oil tanker that had been briefly stuck in the Egyptian Suez Canal late on Wednesday due to a technical failure in its rudder.

Two shipping sources said the vessel, the Affinity V, was closing off the southern part of the canal, but sources at the Securities and Commodities Authority said shortly after midnight local time that traffic had returned to normal.

The accident occurred in the same southern stretch of the canal where the giant cargo ship, the Ever Geffen, ran aground for six days in March 2021, disrupting global trade.

According to ship monitoring service TankerTrackers, the Aframax Affinity V appears to have lost control in the Suez Canal on Wednesday evening as it headed south.

“It has temporarily blocked traffic and is now facing south again, but is moving slowly with the help of tugs,” Tanker Trackers said on Twitter.

Ship tracking data on Refinitiv and the Marine Traffic website also showed Affinity V facing south and traveling slowly in the canal, flanked by tugs.

Tracking websites said the Singapore-flagged tanker was heading to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia.

After the Ever Given Canal ran aground, the SCA announced accelerated plans to expand the canal, including extending a second channel that would allow freight to pass in both directions along part of its route and deepen an existing channel.

The expansion is scheduled to be completed in 2023.

(Coverage) Yousry Muhammad, Yasmine Hussein, Yomna Ihab and Nafisa Al-Taher. Written by Aidan Lewis. Editing by Mark Porter, Christian Schmolinger and Himani Sarkar

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