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, collided with the broken vessel.
"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. 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.
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.