The Singapore-flagged BW Lesmes was reported to have made a sudden stop in the canal at the 144 km mark due to a technical failure in steering and machinery which led to the Cayman Islands-flagged Burri makng “slight contact” with the LNG carrier in strong currents.
Adm. Ossama Rabiee, Chairman and Managing Director of the SCA said tugboats from the authority had connected lines from four tugs to the broken down LNG carrier BW Lesmes and succeeded in towing it out of the shipping lane. The Burri was towed and moored following collision but still requires to be towed from the navigational waterway.
The SCA said the Admiral, “Conveyed a message of assurance that navigation will be back to normal in both directions within few hours, as the north convoy will resume its transit once the tanker Burri is towed outside the navigational waterway.”
According to Inchcape Shipping Services a 21 vessels in the southbound convoy were delayed due to the incident.
It said that initial inspections had shown no significant damage or any pollution from the incident.
Concerns over casualties in the Suez Canal have been heightened since the containership Ever Given grounded in the canal in March 2021 blocking it for six days causing global supply chain chaos.
