Normal traffic returns to Suez Canal after 2 tankers collide

Normal traffic has resumed in the Suez Canal after a brief slowdown following the collision of two oil tankers in the world’s most heavily trafficked waterway.

The Suez Canal authority said in a statement 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, then 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.

MarineTraffic, a vessel tracking service provider, released a time-lapse video for the incident that showed the Burri turning to port and colliding with the BW Lesmes which was already grounding across the waterway. About two dozen other tankers traveling through the canal were delayed, the authority said.

Built in 2018, the Burri is 250 meters long and 44 meters wide. The BW Lesmes was built three years later and is 295 meters long and 46.43 meters wide, according to MarineTraffic.

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.

The incident was the latest case of a vessel reported stuck in the crucial waterway. A flurry of ships has run aground or broken down in the Suez Canal over the past few years.

About 10 per cent of world trade flows through the canal every day. In March 2021, the Panama-flagged Ever Given, a colossal container ship, crashed into a bank on a single-lane stretch of the canal, blocking the waterway for six days and disrupting global trade.

Earlier this month, a tugboat sank in the canal after it collided with a Hong Kong-flagged tanker.

The canal, which connects the the Mediterranean and the Red seas, was opened in 1869. It provides a crucial link for oil, natural gas and cargo. The canal authority operates a system of convoys, consisting of one northbound and one southbound per day.

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.