Suez Canal blocked as 43,000-ton vessel runs aground six months after Ever Given

9 September 2021, 23:01

A 43,000-ton ship has run aground in the Suez Canal six months after the Ever Given blocked it.

The Panama-flagged Coral Crystal was temporarily jammed in what is one of the busiest shipping routes on the planet on Thursday.

It reached 33 miles into the western branch of the Al-Ballah bypass when it got stuck, according to local reports.

The Suez Canal Authority were forced to take action in a "professional manner", using tugboats to get the vessel back on track.

However, reroutes meant there were few delays to others using the bypass.

Coral Crystal later went on to complete its journey through the canal, heading to Port Sudan on the Red Sea. 

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It came after 200,000-ton container ship Ever Given blocked the canal in Egypt for six days in March.

The vessel had been carrying around £500 million in cargo between Asia and Europe when the crisis occurred.

It caused disruptions for hundreds of ships, with some waiting in place for the canal to be unblocked and others being forced to take a much longer route, requiring additional fuel and other costs.

Ever Given was finally freed following intensive efforts to push and pull it with a flotilla of tugboats and vacuum up sand with several dredgers at high tide.

The popular waterway sees around 52 ships a day pass through, with 12 per cent of the world's trade relying on the canal.