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ECONOMY

Collision Between Tanker and Oil Tanker in Suez Canal Amidst Drought

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A tanker and an oil tanker have suffered a slight collision in the Suez Canal, where transit has been interrupted, although the authority that manages it expected navigation to return to normal in a matter of “hours” and, according to Reuters, traffic has already been restored.

The accident coincides with a drought that affects the other major maritime canal, the Panama Canal, where the pace of passage has been reduced due to the scarcity of water.

The crash took place early on Wednesday and affected the BW Lesmes, which transports liquefied natural gas and is 295 meters long, and the Burri, which carries oil and is somewhat smaller, 250 meters.

The first made a “sudden stop” near kilometer 144 of the canal due to a technical failure that caused it to lose its drive, according to the Canal Authority.

The failure coincided with “a strong current” that caused the Burri to have “light contact” with the other boat.

“We have taken care of the breakdowns suffered by an LNG vessel and an oil tanker during their transit through the Canal and navigation will return to normal in both directions in the next few hours,” explained Ossama Rabiee, president and director of operations of the Authority. of the Suez Canal.

Rabiee also stated that the tugboats came to the scene and first moored the Burri to later move the BW Lesmes, which has already been removed from the waterway.

Activity will resume on the channel when the Burri is removed. Initial inspections revealed no significant damage or contamination incidents.

Two years ago, navigation in the Suez Canal was completely paralyzed when the enormous Ever Given, 400 meters long, ran aground transversely.

The accident affected global supply chains. In this case, everything is expected to return to normal in hours, although the shock has coincided with the drought that causes delays of up to 20 days in the Panama Canal, where daily traffic has been reduced to 32 ships, instead of of the normal 38.

The maximum draft of the vessels that pass through the infrastructure has also been limited to reduce water consumption.

INTERNATIONAL

Suez Canal Traffic Suspended Briefly After Collision Between Tankers

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A “slight collision” between a tanker and an oil tanker in the Suez Canal caused the suspension of traffic for several hours on the important maritime route, which has not yet recovered its regular traffic, which, according to the managing authority of the route, “It will resume in a few hours.”

The incident, the seventh so far this year, took place last morning when “a slight collision occurred between the liquefied gas tanker BW Lesmes and the oil tanker that was following it Burri”, from the Cayman Islands, the president confirmed. of the Suez Canal Authority, Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, in a statement.

Rabie explained that the crash occurred “at kilometer 144 of the seaway due to the sudden stop of the BW Lesmes due to a technical failure in the steering and machinery, while the intensity of the current pushed the Burri towards the stopped ship”.

He also pointed out that several tugboats “managed to deal with the emergency situation” to remove the two vessels out of the sea lane.

Rabie sent a reassuring message noting that “regular traffic will resume in a few hours” and that the “light” crash has not caused “serious damage or pollution incidents” in the channel, although he said that “the crew of the Burri tanker reported a sudden malfunction in the steering”.

“Regular navigation in the canal will resume in both directions within a few hours, as the ships of the northern convoy are due to resume their passage as soon as the Burri tanker is towed out of the way,” he stressed.

The Singapore-flagged BW Lesmes is 295 meters long, 46 meters wide and has a capacity of 121,000 tons, while the Burri is about 250 meters long, 44 meters wide and has a tonnage of 67,000 tons, stressed the note.

Pro-government media said this morning that “a failure” caused the BW Lesmes to run aground in the seaway at dawn, and the state chain Cairo24 broadcast images of the “ship after successfully refloating it”, without disclosing details.

The Suez Canal, an important source of foreign currency earnings for Egypt, has been the scene of repeated incidents this year, although not all events of this nature have interrupted transit through the canal.

The last serious one took place in the first week of August due to the collision of a tugboat and an oil tanker that was crossing the seaway, which caused the temporary suspension of traffic in the channel.

That incident, which caused the death of a tugboat crew member, was at least the sixth of its kind so far this year, and it happened two months after the oil tanker “Seavigour” paralyzed traffic in the canal after suffering a failure mechanic for which it had to be refloated.

The most serious incident took place in March 2021 when the container ship “Ever Given” blocked the sea passage with its 400 meters in length and 18,000 containers on board.

This caused a huge traffic jam along this route, through which around 10% of the world’s merchandise passes and which brings in some 8,000 million dollars a year to Egypt.