Ship happens: Another vessel gets stuck in Egypt’s Suez Canal

The boats were once again blocked from entering part of the Suez Canal for the second time this year after a container ship ran around. It is reportedly said that this incident did not cause as much traffic as the previous incident.

Reuters reported that the vessel got stuck at around the 54km point in the canal in Egypt.

Meanwhile, 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 underway.

According to Al-Ain, as many as four ships going towards Suez from Port Said were diverted into a separate lane as a result of the blockade.

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Sky News Arabia reported that the vessel was successfully refloated a short time later and the channel was reopened.

It is reportedly said that the ship involved was the Coral Crystal, a Panama-flagged bulk carrier that was built in 2012.

It is 738 feet long and 104 feet wide and was on the way to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, according to Traffic Marine, a vessel tracking firm.

The canal said that its tugboats managed to float the south-bound vessel, which carries cargo weighing 43,000 tons. The Coral Crystal then resumed its voyage.

Also read: Suez Canal traffic cleared nearly a week after ship blocking it was refloated

This 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.

The grounding of the 400m ship cost companies billions as goods could not be shipped around the world.

Specialist teams worked day-and-night 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.