Oil tanker floats after five hours of crashing into Suez Canal Egypt

A large oil tanker that crashed into the Suez Canal in Egypt was late Wednesday re-floated after sinking to the depth of the water.

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) on Thursday, narrated that “the vessel, coming from Portugal, ran aground in the Suez Canal at about 7.00 p.m. local time (1700 GMT) on Wednesday and tugboats released it into its navigational course five hours later.”

The spokesperson of the Suez Canal Authority, George Safwat, said that the vessel, Affinity V, had been blocking the southern section of the canal for a short period, adding that “traffic has returned to normal”.

The incident took place in the same single-lane stretch of the canal where the Ever Given, a giant cargo ship, ran aground for six days in March 2021, causing disruption in global trade movement.

Since the freeing of the Ever Given, the SCA has been expanding and deepening the course of the canal, which is due to be completed in 2023.

Linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, the Suez Canal was officially opened for international navigation in 1869.