Pics: Shipping vessels regularly navigate in Suez Canal after refloating Hong Kong-flagged ship

CAIRO - 25 MAY 2023: Shipping vessels resumed navigation regularly in the Suez Canal after refloating the Hong Kong-flagged Bulk carrier Xi Hai Tong that ran aground in the canal at kilometer no. 159 on the eastern side of the waterway.

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) announced in a statement that a total of 74 ships crossed the waterway from both directions on Thursday, with a total net tonnage of 4.8 million tons.

 

The salvage took place over one hour and 16 minutes through three tugboats which towed the vessel to the Suez Anchorage Area in Ismailia. The incident occurred because of an engine failure during the ship's transit in the waterway.

Xi Hai Tong 23 was among the northbound convoy as it had departed from the United Kingdom having as destination Saudi Arabia. The vessel's dimensions are 190-meter overall length, 32-meter beam, and a tonnage of 34,000 tons.

 

The three tugs were “Ezzat Adel of 160 tons’ bollard pull capacity,” “Suez 1” and “Suez 2,” each of 75 tons’ bollard pull capacity. After they had started connecting the towline to the vessel, the ship’s anchorage winch broke down causing the incapability of lifting the anchor, and as a consequence, hindering the towline connecting process.

Once the winch was repaired, the anchor was lifted, the towlines were connected, and the vessel was towed successfully.

 

SCA Chairman Admiral Osama Rabiee conveyed an assurance message that the navigation had resumed normally in both directions once the vessel was towed, as a precautionary measure was taken to ensure the safety of navigation.

Admiral Rabiee confirmed that the SCA has all the necessary salvage expertise as well as the needed navigational and technical safety capabilities to deal with any possible emergency in a professional manner.