CAIRO, 10 November 2004 — Egyptian authorities reopened the Suez Canal yesterday after the one of the world’s major waterways was forced to shut for the first time in 30 years because of a stricken oil tanker.
The Liberian-registered vessel “Tropic Brilliance” was refloated after running aground in the canal, a key shipping route for transporting goods, the canal authorities announced.
The 89,000-ton tanker became stuck cross-wise in the canal on Sunday near the town of Ismailiya, 140 km (90 miles) northeast of Cairo, preventing as many as 60 ships from passing. The stricken vessel defied all efforts by several tugs, including the giant “Adel Ezzat”, to shift it.
But the canal authority said that the Tropic Brilliance was finally refloated after around 25,000 tons of oil, more than a quarter of its cargo, was pumped out.
The ship was heading toward Port Said in the Mediterranean Sea at the northern end of the Suez Canal, a 195-km (120-mile) long waterway linked to the Red Sea.
Behind it, a convoy of 46 ships was also making its way slowly to Port Said and a second group of 55 vessels was due to begin the voyage in the opposite direction to the Red Sea overnight Tuesday to Wednesday, the authorities said. The operation to free the Tropic Brilliance was good news for Egypt.
The Suez, which was last closed after the Arab-Israeli war of October 1973 and reopened in January 1975, earns the country around $7.9 million a day and it was feared the canal would be blocked until at least Wednesday.
An average of 50 vessels use it each day; a massive time saving for shipping companies as it means they do not have to travel around the African continent.
The Tropic Brilliance is reported by Russian media to be owned by the public Russian company Sovkomflot, the country’s biggest maritime transport group.
The group, whose revenues totaled $372 million in 2003, owns 54 ships, all of which are registered in Liberia. It remained unclear yesterday exactly how the ship had run aground.
