Egypt succeeds in refloating Affinity V oil tanker after briefly blocking Suez Canal

By Yomna Yasser On Sep 1, 2022

Tug boats refloated oil tanker Affinity V that was briefly stranded in Egypt’s Suez Canal late on Wednesday due to a technical fault with its rudder, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said in a statement.

Affinity V, a 252 metre (827-foot) vessel, had drifted to obstruct the southern section of the Egyptian waterway, shipping and canal sources told Reuters. However, the SCA sources said shortly after midnight local time that traffic had returned to normal.

The SCA released video showing its chairman Osama Rabie in a control room where staff were racing the time to resolve the problem, and footage of the tanker being escorted in the canal by tugs.

A Thursday morning Refinitiv ship-tracking data and the Marine Traffic website showed that the Affinity V vessel had passed through the canal and was in the Gulf of Suez. The Singapore-flagged tanker was heading for the Red Sea port of Yanbu in Saudi Arabia, a tracking sites added.

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Satelite map shows oil tanker Affinity V blocking the Egyptian waterway(2)

Efforts to refloat oil tanker Affinity V that briefly blocked Suez Canal

Refloating oil tanker Affinity V that briefly blocked Suez Canal

Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chairman Osama Rabie in the control room where staff after successively resolve the problem