Ship briefly runs aground in Egypt’s Suez Canal

Online ship tracker shows the Xin Hai Tong 23, a bulk carrier, stuck in the Suez Canal. Photo / via Marinetraffic.com

A Hong Kong-flagged ship briefly ran aground on Thursday in Egypt’s vital Suez Canal, though authorities said they were able to refloat it after it momentarily disrupted the waterway.

The Xin Hai Tong 23 ran aground at the southern mouth of the Suez Canal, tracking data showed. Leth Agencies, which oversees traffic in the canal, acknowledged the grounding. More than two hours later, Leth said they were able to refloat it.

Egyptian authorities did not immediately acknowledge the ship running aground. It wasn’t immediately clear what affect the grounding would have on traffic in the canal, which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. However, tracking data showed no shipping vessels moving around that area of the canal when the ship was stuck.

Tracking data showed the vessel, describing its condition as “not under command.” Tug boats surrounded it to get it refloated.

🚨 ship stuck in the suez canal 🚨 pic.twitter.com/ZTS0WVihym

— casey briggs (@CaseyBriggs) May 25, 2023

“M/V XIN HAI TONG 23 has grounded in the Suez Canal at KM 159/0400 hrs,” Leth Agencies said in a tweet. They said it was “leaving behind 4 vessels from the early convoy in addition to the ordinary group which was planned to enter Suez Canal at about 0600 hrs.”

“Suez Canal tugs are currently trying to re-float the vessel.”

The ship is a bulk carrier, which typically carries cargo. The ship measures some 190m by 32m.

The Ever Given, a colossal container ship that crashed into a bank on a single-lane stretch of the canal in March 2021, blocking the waterway, was bigger.

A massive salvage effort by a flotilla of tugboats, helped by the tides, freed the skyscraper-sized vessel six days later, ending the crisis and allowing hundreds of waiting ships to pass through the canal.

M/V XIN HAI TONG 23 has grounded in the Suez Canal at KM 159/0400 hrs - leaving behind 4 vessels from the early convoy in addition to the ordinary group which was planned to enter Suez Canal at about 0600 hrs.

Suez Canal tugs are currently trying to re-float the vessel.

— Leth (@AgenciesLeth) May 25, 2023

The Suez Canal runs between Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea and Suez on the Red Sea.

It is just 200m wide at its narrowest point. Roughly 30 per cent of the world’s shipping container volume passes through the canal and about 12 per cent of total global trade.

A vessel is grounded in the Suez Canal (again)🚢

🏗️ Tugs are attempting to refloat the Xin Hai Tong 23, says Leth Agencies
👍 The vessel (a bulk carrier) is half the length of the Ever Given, which blocked the Suez in 2021 and roiled global tradehttps://t.co/lNOO2LrbU5 pic.twitter.com/37coZv1mMx

— Stephen Stapczynski (@SStapczynski) May 25, 2023