A cargo ship ran aground on Thursday morning in Egypt’s Suez Canal and blocked shipping traffic for about two hours, until it was brought afloat with the help of tugboats. Leth Agencies, a company that manages traffic in the canal, said the vessel is the Xin Hai Tong 23, which flies the flag of Hong Kong. She had run aground near the southern mouth of the canal where she was headed: four other vessels were stranded behind her, and sailings from the northern entrance to the canal had been temporarily blocked.
In March 2021 another merchant ship, the container ship Ever Given, ran aground in the Suez Canal blocking traffic for over a week and causing enormous problems and major economic consequences, given that about 12 percent of traffic passes through Suez world merchant.
– Read also: The history of the Suez Canal
