A tugboat sank in Suez Canal after colliding with a Hong Kong-flagged tanker crossing the waterway, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said in a statement on Saturday.
The collision of Fahd tugboat with the tanker Chinagas Legend left holes in the Egyptian tugboat and led to its sinking, said SCA Chairperson Osama Rabie in the statement.
The SCA has sent a maritime rescue team to pick up the sunken boat and save the seven-member crew onboard, said the SCA.
The 230-meter-long tanker, which came from Singapore en route to the United States, is now mooring at nearby Port Said until related procedures are finished.
The Suez Canal is one of Egypt’s main sources of national income and hard currency.
Connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, the man-made canal is a major lifeline for global seaborne trade, with some 12 percent of the world trade volume passing through it.
Rabie announced that maritime salvage operation is currently in progress. Rabie added that the SCA maritime salvage team was immediately deployed to rescue the 7 members of the tugboat’s crew and the salvage operations are still ongoing
. Moreover, the SCA crane INKAZ was also deployed to recover the tugboat wreckage.
