Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Vice Admiral Osama Rabie said on Thursday that a bulk carrier was successfully refloated after running aground in the Canal.
The vessel, XIN TAIN YUAN, grounded after a rudder malfunction. The incident occurred while it was transiting the Canal as part of the northbound convoy, on a voyage from Denmark to Singapore.
The Panama-flagged ship is 225 meters long and 32.2 meters wide, with a tonnage of 41,000 tonnes.
Rabie said the Main Navigation Control Center received the alert at kilometer 87. Four SCA tugboats were immediately dispatched to the site.
The tugs carried out pulling operations to refloat the vessel. The operation was completed at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday.
The ship was stabilized and escorted to the Great Bitter Lakes. This followed successful repairs by the vessel’s crew.
Rabie said the operation was conducted efficiently. Tug deployment was based on precise calculations by the crisis management team. Several departments coordinated to ensure the vessel’s safety.
He praised the tug Azm 2, one of the newest in the SCA fleet. It has a bollard pull of 90 tonnes and took part in a rescue operation for the first time.
Rabie confirmed that southbound traffic was not affected. Northbound convoys will resume once the vessel is inspected.
He stressed the SCA’s readiness to handle emergencies. He also praised the professionalism of SCA teams.
A total of 50 vessels transited the Canal on Thursday. Their combined net tonnage reached 2.2 million tonnes.
