Ship that ran aground in Egypt’s Suez Canal on Thursday successfully refloated

CAIRO – 9 September 2021: Suez Canal Authority announced quickly refloating the CORAL CRYSTAL ship that ran aground on Thursday in the canal.

Osama Rabie, the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, said the traffic in the canal has not been affected as ships behind the CORAL CRYSTAL vessel was redirected to another bypass.

“Rabie affirmed that the ship was dealt with professionally through the authority’s tugboats and the ship continued crossing the canal,” a statement by the authority said.

 

In March, Ever Given, a Japanese-owned 400-meter-long container ship, operating under Panama’s flag, ran aground in the Suez Canal, leaving hundreds of ships stuck behind as it fully blocked the route.

The ship was only allowed to leave Egyptian waters in July after signing a settling agreement with the Suez Canal Authority.

After it was freed on March 29, the ship was escorted to the Bitter Lakes for technical inspection, crew interrogation, and black box analysis.

Afterward, an Egyptian economic court in Ismailia issued a decision to seize the ship at the canal until paying compensation for damages it caused due to the grounding, besides the costs of the salvage operation.

In May, the Suez Canal Authority reduced the amount of compensation claims for the damages caused by the grounding of the ship from $916 million to $600 million.

Late in June, the Suez Canal Authority said it reached a settlement with the owner of the massive ship. The SCA did not reveal the details of the agreement but said it was satisfactory.