CAIRO: Authorities closed five ports on Wednesday and prevented some oil tankers and ships from passing through the Suez Canal because of bad weather, officials said.
The Suez Canal Authority stopped at least three ships from entering the canal from the north, including a Liberian oil tanker carrying 170,000 tons, said an authority official who asked not to be named.
We applied the rules relating to bad weather on ships going through the canal, said the official.
Alexandria, Egypt s largest port, and the port of Dekheila prevented ships from coming in because of the weather.
An official from the Red Sea Port Authority said three ports there were closed due to poor conditions.
At 9 am local time (0700 GMT) today, the Adabiya, Port Taufiq and Petroleum ports were closed due to wind speed exceeding 30 knots and waves rising over 3.5 m (11 feet), said the official, who asked not to be named.
The official said the ports, which handle cargo, passengers and oil, should reopen as soon as conditions improve.
