Suez Canal blocked again after tanker becomes stuck

A tanker has been freed after running aground in the Suez Canal, near to the spot where the Ever Given container ship became wedged in March 2021.

The 250-metre-long Aframax tanker Affinity V was bound for Saudi Arabia when it lost control and became stuck diagonally in the Suez Canal on Wednesday evening (31 Aug 22).

Alarm bells were raised quickly, given the impact of the Ever Given blockage, which caused weeks of disruption to global supply chains, and forced the owners of the Ever Given to pay compensation of over US$200m to the Suez Canal Authority.

This time, several tug boats were reportedly able to gingerly free and reposition the Singapore-flagged Affinity V within a few hours, according to the Suez Canal Authority.

AIS data showed at least six more vessels also southbound were caught directly behind the disabled tanker, close to the southern terminus of the canal.

George Safwat, a spokesman for Suez Canal Authority, told Extra News that the Affinity had suffered a problem in the vessel’s steering systems that caused it to run aground, and that refloating it had taken around five hours.

Lieutenant-General Osama Rabie, head of the Suez Canal Authority, explained to local media the tanker had “a technical malfunction at the ship’s rudder, which caused the loss of the ability to steer and strand the ship.”

Tugs freed the grounded tanker in five hours. Photo courtesy of Egypt Projects/Twitter

It’s understood that the tanker had offloaded in Portgual and was returning to Saudi Arabia with only ballast – something that could have made it easier to refloat than the Ever Given.

About 12 per cent of all world trade runs through the Suez Canal, which is the fastest route between Europe and Asia.