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One of The Largest Ships Becomes Grounded in The Suez Canal and Prevents The Passage of Other Vessels
On Tuesday morning, one of the largest container ships in the world had an accident and became grounded in the strategic Suez Canal, the waterway that connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, blocking traffic in both directions and causing a significant backlog in one of the main arteries of global maritime transport.
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Several cargo ships and oil tankers remain detained in the southern part of the canal, waiting for traffic to return to normal, as shown by the live map of the ship tracker Marine Traffic.
Government Creates Rescue Operation to Normalize Ship Traffic
Osama Rabie, Lieutenant General and Head of The Suez Canal Authority, explained that the rescue operation began immediately after the accident and detailed that the Authority has eight tugboats, and one of them has 160 tons of thrust, pushing the grounded ship from both sides with the aim of making it float again and resume navigation through The Suez Canal.
There is still no information on how long the ship will remain grounded, although a canal employee indicated to the local news outlet Cairo24, close to Egyptian intelligence, that it could extend for at least two days.
Suez Canal
With about 160 kilometers in length, the Suez Canal was inaugurated in 1869 and carries just over 10% of global trade. The canal also represents one of the main sources of much-desired foreign currency for Egypt. In 2015, Egypt completed a controversial expansion of the canal, a project of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
The Suez Canal is one of the most important maritime routes in the world and a major focus of Egypt’s economy. Since its opening, it has made the region of vital importance to European colonial powers.
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