The Suez Canal Authority Monday said a cargo ship carrying corn that ran aground in the Canal has been refloated, after momentarily halting movement in this important international shipping lane in the Egyptian waterway.
The MV Glory came aground close to the city of Qantara, in the Suez Canal province of Ismailia, according to Leth Agencies, a company that offers services to ships transiting the Suez.
The M/V Glory is being towed by three canal tugboats, the Suez Canal Authority said around 10 AM Egypt time. Leth Agencies tweeted that the approximately 21 ships whose southbound passage via the canal was halted will continue their voyages at 11 AM with just slight delays.
M/V GLORY has been refloated by the Suez Canal Authority tugs.
21 vessels going southbound will commence/resume their transits. Only minor delays expected.— Leth (@AgenciesLeth) January 9, 2023
The SCA said the M/V Glory had encountered a "sudden technical failure."
Leth Agencies published a picture that said the Glory was not stuck across the channel but rather up against the west side of the canal, facing south. The three tugs assisting the ship were identified as Port Said, Svitzer Suez 1, and Ali Shalabi.
The Suez Canal Authority continues their efforts to refloat M/V GLORY assisted by the three tugs - Port Said, Svitzer Suez 1 and Ali Shalabi.
Picture Credit: Fleetmon#SuezCanal #Grounding pic.twitter.com/04qQA2XFnz— Leth (@AgenciesLeth) January 9, 2023
It wasn't the first ship to run aground in the important waterway. Massive container ship Ever Given, under the flag of Panama, struck a bank in a single-lane stretch of the canal in March 2021, closing the waterway for six days.
In a massive salvage effort, a fleet of tugboats managed to free the Ever Given. In addition to straining supply networks already stretched thin by the coronavirus pandemic, the blockage caused gigantic traffic congestion that halted $9 billion in daily worldwide trade.
The Glory is 225-meters (738-feet) long, and is just over half the length of the massive Ever Given.
Egyptian officials began widening and deepening the waterway's southern section where the Ever Given disaster occurred as a result of the mishap.
Over 65,000 metric tonnes of Ukrainian corn were being transported to China aboard the Glory, according to the Joint Coordination Center. The center inspected the Glory off the coast of Istanbul on January 3. The facility employs people from Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Nations.
The Suez Canal, which was first opened in 1869, serves as a vital conduit for cargo, natural gas, and oil. It continues to be one of Egypt's main sources of foreign revenue. The canal was significantly expanded in 2015 by the administration of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, enabling it to accommodate the largest ships in the world.
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