SUEZ/CAIRO: A cargo ship temporarily blocked all traffic on the Suez Canal Sunday after running aground halfway along the vital waterway.
Traffic was interrupted at 6 am after The Atlantic, a 40,000-ton cargo vessel registered to the Marshall Islands, stopped near the canal port city of Ismailia, said an official at Egypt s Suez Canal Authority. By mid-afternoon, the Institution of Ismailia had tugged the vessel and traffic resumed, according to an official from Ismailia Port Security.
At least 10 ships were blocked by the grounded vessel, the Suez Canal Authority official told The Daily Star Egypt.
The Ismailia Port Security official claimed that there was an engine malfunction, adding that incidents like this “happen every now and then.
The ship was heading south towards the Red Sea from the Mediterranean.
The Suez Canal is the third source of foreign currency for Egypt after tourism and remittances from overseas workers. Additional reporting by Agence-France Press
