The Suez Canal Authority said a cargo ship carrying corn that went aground early Monday in the Egyptian waterway was refloated and canal traffic was restored.
Adm. Ossama Rabei, head of the authority, said the Marshall Islands-flagged MV Glory suffered a technical failure and the canal deployed four tugboats to help refloat it. He said the vessel was being withdrawn to a nearby maritime park to fix the problem.
Rabei did not elaborate on the nature of the technical failure. Parts of Egypt, including its northern provinces, experienced a wave of bad weather Sunday.
Rabei said in a statement that traffic in the canal resumed after the ship was refloated and 51 vessels were expected to pass through the waterway Monday.
Marwa Maher, a media officer with the canal authority, said the vessel ran aground around 5 a.m. local time and was refloated five hours later.
Canal services firm Leth Agencies said the Glory ran aground near the city of Qantara in the Suez Canal province of Ismailia. Satellite tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press showed the Glory running aground in a single-lane stretch of the Suez Canal just south of Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea.
Leth Agencies later posted a graphic that suggested the Glory, which is owned by Greek firm Primera Shipping Inc., was against the west bank of the canal, pointed south and not wedged across the channel.
