ISMAILIA (Egypt) (Reuters) – Traffic on the Suez Canal was not affected by the sudden engine failure of an oil tanker on Tuesday, the canal authority said, adding that the ship had been repaired and restarted.
Shipping websites MarineTraffic and TankerTrackers previously said sea traffic had slowed down the canal as oil tanker M / T Rumford appeared to be facing difficulties in the southern part.
“Authority quickly dealt with a sudden engine failure of one of the ships crossing the canal, the oil tanker Rumford, with a payload of 62,000 tons, while crossing the canal between the southern convoy,” he said. Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said in a statement.
Channel tugs handled the incident “professionally” and the tanker resumed movement on the channel after the ship’s crew resolved the failure.
“Maritime traffic was unaffected,” the SCA said, adding that on Tuesday 84 ships passed through the canal on both sides.
Reports of delays on the world’s major waterways are particularly sensitive following the landing of the Ever done on March 23, which blocked the canal for nearly a week and disrupted international supply chains.
A commercial source said the canal notified companies that M / T Rumford had engine problems on the canal and that it had sent tugs Tim Hope and Mosaed 3 to its aid.
TankersTracker said on Twitter that the ship had had difficulties, but was eventually heading back north.
The president of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), Osama Rabie, told Reuters on Tuesday that the issue had only lasted about ten minutes and was “resolved.”
The SCA is considering expanding the southern section of the waterway where the Ever given container ship ran aground, Rabie said.
Reports by Yousry Mohamed to Ismailia and Nadine Awadalla in Cairo; writing by Mahmoud Mourad; edited by David Goodman and Philippa Fletcher