No one can blame the shipping industry for being somewhat on edge at the news late last week of the grounding of the Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier, the Coral Crystal, in a two-way stretch of the Suez Canal.
After the fallout from the Ever Given, which was lodged in the Canal for six days in March, forcing carriers to reroute and seriously disrupting logistics chains, Ossama Rabiee, chairman and managing director of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), issued a speedy statement to allay any fears, stressing that the SCA had the “very brief” grounding under full control.
The vessel was carrying 43 000 tons of cargo on board.
“The incident was resolved in a professional manner through the aid of SCA tug boats, and the ship resumed its transit through the Canal,” said Rabiee.
He said traffic had not been disrupted in any way
According to media reports, at 225 metres, the vessel is just over half the length of the Ever Given, and its brief grounding affected only four vessels.
