The Egyptian authority returns the buoy of a ship flying the Hong Kong flag in the Suez Canal

CAIRO, May 25 (IANS) – Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority (SCA) on Thursday refloated a Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier that ran aground in the world’s busiest industrial waterways, according to an official statement.

The New China News Agency (Xinhua) quoted the Securities and Commodities Authority as saying that “three Qatari boats re-floated a large ship that was stuck in the Suez Canal.”

The SCA rescue team managed to deal with an emergency breakdown of XIN HAI TONG 23, a 190-meter bulk carrier near the southern end of the canal from Saudi Arabia.

In a tweet on Thursday morning, the Oslo-based Leth Shipping Agency said: “M/V XIN HAI TONG 23 anchored in the Suez Canal at km 159/0400 hrs – leaving behind 4 ships from the early convoy in addition to the regular convoy group that was due to enter the Suez Canal.” At about 0600 hrs. Suez Canal tugboats are currently trying to refloat the ship.”

In March 2021, the Panama-flagged ship “Ever Given” owned by Japan, one of the largest container ships in the world, was washed up in the Suez Canal, which jammed global shipping traffic for about a week until an Egyptian fleet returned it. locomotives and excavators.

Connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, the Suez Canal was officially opened to international navigation in 1869, serving as a lifeline for global maritime trade.

About 12 percent of the world’s trade passes through the man-made canal.

In January of this year, it was reported that the Suez Canal recorded record annual revenues of $8 billion in 2022 from the passage and transit of 23,851 ships.

According to the Suez Canal Authority, the number of ships transiting the waterway increased by 8 percent in the seven years following the completion of the canal development project in 2015, as 135 thousand ships crossed the canal in 2016-2022 compared to 125 thousand ships in 2008. – 2014.

– Jans

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