Suez Canal traffic briefly stopped after oil tanker lost power

RIYADH: Ship traffic through Egypt’s Suez Canal was briefly halted Tuesday as the oil tanker Rumford lost power, Bloomberg reported today.

Rumford needed tug boat assistance but was soon operational and the northbound convoy was moving normally again, according to an email from Inchcape Shipping Services.

It comes two weeks after the Ever Given, a giant container ship, wedged itself across the Suez waterway and blocked it, causing massive disruption to global trade.

Around 12 percent of trade passes through the Suez Canal waterway that links Asia to Europe.

Suez Canal Chairman Osama Rabie told Reuters on Tuesday an expansion of the southern section of the waterway was under construction.

The authority is also looking into procuring the kinds of cranes that could potentially offload cargo at heights of up to 250 metres (820 ft) for these kinds of emergencies, Rabie said.

“Our procedures are sound, we are just aiming to improve the service,” Rabie said.