A Chinese bulker ran aground in the Suez Canal, but rescuers managed to refloat the vessel early on Thursday morning.
According to Pole Star's Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, the Xin Hai Tong 23 sailed into the canal from the south and ran aground in the narrow lower stretch at about 1am on Thursday morning.
Several ships were delayed in the queue behind the grounded vessel.
Suez operator Leth Agencies reports that the Suez Canal Authority responded to the incident scene, dispatching two tugs.
The team managed to refloat the bulker at around 7:40am, allowing the delayed vessels to pass through the canal.
She was then turned around and brought out of the southern entrance of the canal.
There have been several recent incidents of vessels running aground in the canal.
A bulker carrying 65 000 tonnes of Ukrainian grain ran aground near Qantara due to a technical issue in January, and a tanker briefly grounded for several hours in August 2022.
The worst Suez incident in recent years was the grounding of the ultra-large container vessel, Ever Given, in 2021.
It took rescuers five days to refloat the ship.
Xin Hai Tong 23 is a 2010-built, Hong Kong-flagged bulker with a mixed port state control history.
Inspectors in Tianjin found issues with fire prevention measures and with her watertight hatches during her latest inspection.
