SCA succeeds in floating oil tanker ‘Affinity’ after running aground in Suez Canal Wednesday

CAIRO  - 1 September 2022: A large oil tanker coming from Portugal run aground in the Suez Canal at 7 pm on Wednesday, and was released into its navigational course five hours later.

Oil Tanker Affinity V, with length of 252 meters, was heading to the port of Yanbu in Saudi Arabia when it got stuck in the Suez Canal due to a problem in its steering system, the spokesperson for the Suez Canal Authority George Safwat told Extra News TV channel.

Safwat said that the incident caused to block the navigational course of the Suez Canal for a short period, ensuring that the authority paid unremitting efforts to release the ship.

 

Photo of Affinity vessel - Picture via Marine vessel traffic website

The authority issued a statement stressing that the tanker was successfully floated and moved in its navigational course, and that nothing is hindering the water way of the Suez Canal.

Last year, the Ever Given ran aground in the Suez Canal on March 23, 2021, and the Suez Canal Authority succeeded in floating it six days after the accident, where it was towed to the Bitter Lakes near the city of Fayed in Ismailia Governorate.

The vessel's deviation caused the navigation movement to stop In the canal, the men of the Suez Canal Authority succeeded in floating the ship by using dredging operations for the first time in the world close to the ship, to re-float it without any unloading of the shipment.

The Ever Given Ship, one of the largest container ships in the world, has a length of 400 meters, a width of 59 meters, and a total tonnage of 224,000 tons.