Two tankers run aground after collision in Suez Canal; shipping channel cleared later

The incident sparked fears of another pile-up in the global trade chain similar to a 2021 incident, when container ship Ever Given was wedged in due to strong winds, blocking overseas trade network for nearly a week.

Two tankers, the Singapore-flagged BW Lesmes and Cayman Islands-flagged Burri, reportedly collided for a brief period in the Suez Canal in the wee hours of August 23. The incident was reported by shipping tracker MarineTraffic.

MarineTraffic has shared a time lapse report on microblogging site X, formerly Twitter, which shows Burri turning sideways and colliding with an already sideways BW Lesmes at 8:40pm (GMT) before backing up and pointing straight.

Tug operations were immediately mobilised in the port to clear the channel blockage, as per reports. Both BW Lesmes and Burri had made the last port call at Port Said to the north.

Blockages

Following the collision, the BW Lesmes displayed its navigation status as “aground” in the Suez Canal. The incident, which occurred in the heavily-trafficked shipping channel, sparked fears of another pile-up in the global trade chain similar to the 2021 incident when container ship Ever Given had wedged in diagonally in the southern part of the channel due to strong winds, blocking overseas trade network for nearly a week.

The LNG tanker BW Lesmes, however, got on the move again a few hours later in the day using its engines, as per vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. It had changed its navigation status back to "under way using engines" by 11:50 pm (GMT), while the Burri updated that it has been anchored. The channel is now open again for traffic movement. The impact of the collision on the vessels is yet to be measured.

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Early this May, a 13-year old ship - Xin Hai Tong 23 - a 189m-long bulk carrier sailing under the flag of Hong Kong had run aground in the channel.

Nearly 12 percent of the world's trade traffic moves through the Suez Canal, which the the shortest shipping route between Asia and Europe.