Ship gets briefly stuck in Egypt’s Suez Canal after engine malfunction, refloated successfully

A large ship was refloated by tugboats after it was stranded in Egypt's Suez Canal, informed shipping agent Leth Agencies on Thursday after which the flows of container ships resumed to normal in one of the world's busiest waterways.

The ship was identified by Leth as the 190 metres (623 foot) Xin Hai Tong 23, a bulk carrier.

"The Suez Canal Authority has successfully refloated M/V XIN HAI TONG 23 at 0740hrs (0440 GMT). The northbound convoy will enter at 0930hrs," stated Leth Agencies, in a tweet.

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The canal authorities, in a statement, said that they got the information about an engine malfunction and hence, the tugboats were deployed to successfully refloat the ship. They added that the process was delayed briefly because of the failure of the winch of the ship.

The authority stated that "shipping activity in both directions would return to normal as soon as the towing process is finished, as a precautionary measure".

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Ship gets grounded in Suez Canal

In a previous tweet, Leth had informed that the ship was grounded in the Suez Canal at 4 a.m. local time, disrupting at least two convoys of ships.

“M/V XIN HAI TONG 23 has grounded in the Suez Canal at KM 159/0400 hrs,” says Leth Agencies in a tweet, adding it was “leaving behind 4 vessels from the early convoy in addition to the ordinary group which was planned to enter Suez Canal at about 0600 hrs”.

According to the Marine Traffic ship tracker and Refinitiv data, the ship, which was sailing under the Hong Kong flag, as “not under command” near the canal's southern end, positioned itself at an angle next to the eastern side of the canal.

In the tracker, three Egyptian tugboats were seen surrounding the vessel.

The ship had started sailing from Saudi Arabia's Duba port. The ship is owned by Xiang B12 HK International Ship Lease and Tosco Keymax International Ship Management is managing it.

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A similar incident occurred in 2021 when a big container ship "Ever Given" was stuck in the Suez Canal amid strong winds which led to a jam and traffic was halted in the two directions for six days. The jam in Suez Canal had disrupted global trade.

Last year, an oil tanker was refloated by tug boats after it was briefly stranded in the canal because of a technical fault with the ship's rudder. The container ship's breakdown in the canal had caused minor delays in March.

(With inputs from agencies)

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