A huge MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company container ship spent several hours aground in the Suez Canal on Sunday.
Traffic was able to keep transiting the canal during the incident involving the 16,652-teu MSC Istanbul (built 2015), the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said.
The Liberia-flag vessel was eventually refloated by tugs after going aground 78 km (48 miles) into the waterway while heading north.
It was then able to continue its journey from Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia to Sines in Portugal.
An SCA salvage team used four tugs — the Port Said, Mosaed I, Mosaed 2 and Mosaed 5 — to free the ship, according to SCA chairman Admiral Osama Rabie.
A fifth vessel was on standby.
“The authority owns the rescue expertise and the capabilities that are necessary for navigational and technical insurance to deal professionally with potential emergency situations,” Rabie added.
He said southbound traffic operated as normal, but vessels heading north were rerouted from the west lane to the east lane.
Ever Given always in mind
MSC confirmed to TradeWinds that the ship was “briefly stuck” while under pilotage and in convoy for northbound transit.
“It was subsequently refloated the same day and resumed service,” MSC said.
The company added that it is working closely with the SCA to better understand what may have caused the incident.
“As the SCA has already communicated, other traffic in the canal was able to continue transit despite this incident,” the company added.
Any grounding of a big boxship in the canal inevitably puts the SCA on red alert after the catastrophic incident involving the 20,124-teu Ever Given (built 2018), which lodged there for six days in March 2021, with huge knock-on effects on world trade.
And the legal fall-out continues.
Last month, it was revealed that AP Moller-Maersk is seeking compensation for losses.
It has launched a claim in Copenhagen against the Ever Given’s owner and operators, after delays to its own vessels.
The amount is said to be around DKK 300m ($43m).
