A container ship loaded with more than 65,000 tons of corn from Ukraine has been refloated after running aground in the Suez Canal.
The M/V Glory had been traveling 24 miles (38 km) south through the Egyptian waterway, near the city of Qantara, when it suffered a technical failure, according to the Suez Canal Authority (SCA).
The breakdown was expected to cause only minor delays and regular passage through the canal was expected to resume at 11:00 local time after tugboats moved it to a repair area.
The ship left the port of Chornomorsk in southwestern Ukraine on Christmas Day and was headed to China with 65,970 metric tons of corn, according to the Joint Coordination Center, which oversees grain exports.
The center said the ship had been cleared to continue its voyage after an inspection in Istanbul on Jan. 3.
In March 2021, the Suez Canal, which provides the shortest route between Europe and Asia, was blocked for six days after another ship, the Ever Given, became horizontally pinned by high winds.
The blockade pushed back the ships and temporarily halted world trade in a variety of goods.
The Ever Given blocked the channel in 2021. Photo: Maxar Technologies
The Ever Given was in the hands of the SCA for more than 100 days while it sought hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation from its Japanese owners.
Egyptian authorities began widening and deepening the southern part of the canal after the incident to try to prevent a repeat.
In August last year, an oil tanker also ran aground on a one-lane stretch of the canal, blocking it for five hours.
