The Suez Canal Authority announced, on Thursday, that its crews were able to repair an emergency fault that affected the machinery of the cargo ship “XIN HAI TONG 23”.
Osama Rabie, head of the Suez Canal Authority, said in a statement that the maritime rescue workers succeeded in dealing professionally with an emergency malfunction of the cargo ship’s machinery, as it crossed the canal as part of the southern convoy on a voyage coming from Saudi Arabia and heading to Egypt.
Rabih added that the ship is being towed for the external draft of the Suez by three locomotives, in preparation for the resumption of navigation in the canal.
Return of regular navigation in the canal
Rabih sent a message of reassurance regarding the return of regular navigation in the canal from both directions, as soon as the ship’s tow was completed, as a precautionary measure for navigational insurance.
The vessel, which flies the Hong Kong flag, is 190 meters long, 32 meters wide, and its cargo is 34,000 tons.
The head of the authority explained that as soon as the main navigation control center received notification of the ship’s machinery and its mooring malfunction, the marine rescue team and three tugboats were pushed to tow the ship, to start the process of connecting the tugboats to the ship and towing it for the external draft.
He added, “However, the failure of the ship’s winch and the inability to lift the hook hindered the completion of the procedures for connecting the tugboats. After repairing the fault of the winch, the hook was raised again and the process of connecting the locomotives and then towing them resumed.”
