Traffic in Suez Canal normal after ship breakdown dealt with

Traffic in Suez Canal normal after ship breakdown dealt with

The M/V Glory ran aground while joining the southbound convoy transiting through the canal.

The Suez Canal is one of the world’s busiest waterways and the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia. (AP pic)
CAIRO:
Shipping traffic in the Suez Canal was proceeding normally on Monday after tugs towed a cargo vessel that broke down during its passage through the waterway, the Canal Authority said.

The breakdown was expected to cause only minor delays, with convoys of ships resuming regular transit by 11am local time, shipping agent Leth said.

Efforts are under way to refloat a cargo vessel carrying grain from Ukraine that has run aground in the Suez Canal, the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority told Al-Arabiya TV on Monday.

The M/V Glory ran aground while joining the southbound convoy transiting through the canal and tug boats are trying to refloat the vessel, Osama Rabie told Al-Arabiya.

The ship is a Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier, data from trackers VesselFinder and MarineTraffic showed.

It departed Ukraine’s Chornomorsk port on Dec 25 bound for China with 65,970 metric tonnes of corn, according to the Istanbul-based Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) overseeing Ukraine grain exports.

The JCC, which includes representatives from the United Nations, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia, said the ship had been cleared to carry on its journey from Istanbul after an inspection on Jan 3.

The Suez Canal is one of the world’s busiest waterways and the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

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