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Hong Kong-Flagged Ship Briefly Blocks Egypt’s Suez Canal
On Thursday morning, a Hong Kong-flagged ship called Xin Hai Tong 23 briefly blocked Egypt’s Suez Canal. Leth Agencies, a company that oversees the waterway, reported that the vessel ran aground before dawn at the southern entrance to the canal, blocking four ships. After a few hours, the Suez Canal Authority refloated the ship and restored normal traffic. However, the Egyptian government offered a conflicting statement, stating that the ship had broken down due to engine failure during its transit through the canal. The vessel was later towed away by three tug boats.
This incident is the latest of a series of ships getting stuck, running aground, or blocking the Suez Canal over the past few years. In January, a vessel owned by the Greek firm Primera Shipping Inc., broke down at the 38-kilometer mark of the canal, near the Egyptian city of Qantara. In March, a Liberia-flagged ship ran aground in the two-lane section of the waterway. In March 2021, the most prominent case occurred when the Panama-flagged container ship Ever Given blocked the canal by running aground in a single-lane stretch of the canal, causing a crisis that lasted six days.
The Suez Canal, opened in 1869, provides a vital link for oil, natural gas, and cargo as Egypt’s top foreign currency earners. In 2015, President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi’s government completed a significant expansion of the canal, allowing it to accommodate the world’s largest vessels.
The exact cause of the Xin Hai Tong 23 incident remains unclear, thus leaving experts to speculate about the potential behind-the-scenes factors. The canal was momentarily blocked, which underscores the need for open, transparent communication across all parties involved in this critical waterway’s operations. Given the importance of global trade flowing through the canal, this event serves as a reminder of the need for a robust, efficient system to prevent and rapidly respond to any issues that arise.
Credit: abcnews.go.com
