A ship briefly stuck in the Suez Canal was refloated after several hours, shipping agent Leth Agencies said on Thursday, opening one of the busiest waterways for other ships to pass. Leth identified the ship as the 190-metres (623 foot) Xin Hai Tong 23, a bulk carrier, and said it was freed by tugboats from the Suez Canal authority. According to Reuters, the canal authorities in a statement said they were informed of an engine malfunction and deployed tugboats to refloat the ship. Although, this process was briefly delayed by the failure of the ship’s winch.
"The Suez Canal Authority has successfully refloated M/V XIN HAI TONG 23 at 0740hrs (0440 GMT). The northbound convoy will enter at 0930hrs," Leth Agencies said in a tweet.
The authority confirmed that "shipping activity on both directions would return to normal as soon as the towing process is finished, as a precautionary measure”, reported Reuters.
Earlier, Leth tweeted that the vessel was grounded at 4 am local time, disrupting at least two convoys of ships.
The Marine Traffic ship tracker had shown the ship, which sails with a Hong Kong flag, as "not under command" near the southern end of the canal. The ship was first angled with its stern abutting the canal's eastern side but the ship appeared to have been moved towards the centre and pointed south. The trackers showed three Egyptian tugboats surrounding the vessel.
The ship had originated from Dhuba port in Saudi Arabia. It is owned by Xiang B12 HK International Ship Lease and managed by Tosco Keymax International Ship Management. During strong winds in 2021, a huge container ship, the Ever Given, jammed the Suez Canal, halting traffic in both directions for six days and disrupting global trade.