Two tankers carrying oil products and liquefied natural gas have collided in the Suez Canal, disrupting traffic through the global waterway, Egyptian authorities said.
The Suez Canal authority said in a statement Wednesday that the BW Lesmes, a Singapore-flagged tanker that carries liquefied natural gas, suffered a mechanical malfunction on Tuesday night and ran aground while transiting through the canal.
The Burri, a Cayman Island-flagged oil products tanker, collided with the broken vessel. The collision disrupted traffic, the statement said.
The two tankers were part of a convoy transiting through from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.
"We’ve immediately handled the breakdowns ... and traffic will go back to normal in both directions within the coming hours," said Adm. Ossama Rabei, the head of the canal authority, in the statement.
The canal services firm Leth Agencies said on Wednesday the incident delayed the transit of 21 southbound vessels.
MarineTraffic, a vessel tracking service provider, released a time-lapse video of the incident that showed the Burri turning to port and colliding with the BW Lesmes which was already grounding across the waterway.
'No injuries'
The canal authorities said they managed to refloat and tow away the BW Lesmes, while efforts were underway to remove the Burri from the waterway. It posted images showing the Lesmes anchored in the canal anchorage, while others showed the Burri being towed away.
"All crew members are safe and accounted for and there were no injuries or any reports of pollution," BW LNG AS, the operators of the BW Lesmes, said in a statement.
Rabei said initial inspections showed that there was no significant damage to the tankers, or pollution at the site. A technical team from Oslo, Norway, would arrive at the vessel later Wednesday to investigate the incident, BW LNG AS said.
About 10 percent of world trade flows through the canal, a major source of foreign currency for the Egyptian government.
According to the Suez Canal Authority, last year 23,851 vessels passed through the waterway, compared to 20,649 vessels in 2021. Revenue from the canal in 2022 reached $8 billion, the highest in its history.
