A 163,038 DWT oil tanker ran aground at 159 km of the Suez Canal early this morning shortly after it entered the canal, GAC Egypt informed.
The ship’s position corresponds to that of the Sea Landsort which is stopped in the Suez Canal, based on its latest AIS info from Marine Traffic.
The Panama-flagged tanker, built in 1991 was the last ship in the Northbound convoy transiting the canal, according to the Suez Canal Authority.
The grounded Suezmax tanker was refloated at 12: 05 hours local time and was towed by Suez Canal tugs to Suez outer anchorage.
The cause of the ship’s grounding and the extent of its damage have not been disclosed.
This is the third ship to run aground in the canal in the past two weeks. Just last week a 182,307 DWT bulker Eibhlin ran aground during its transit of the Suez Canal with the Southbound convoy. However, it was refloated shortly after.
At the end of April, MSC Fabiola had a similar fate but it took several days before the ship was pulled free and the traffic returned to normal.
World Maritime News Staff