The general cargo vessel XIN HAI TONG 23 temporarily blocked in the Suez Canal: Successful rescue operation allows navigation to resume

During its transit through the Suez Canal, the multipurpose cargo ship XIN HAI TONG 23, flying the Hong Kong flag, was temporarily blocked during the night of Wednesday 24 May to Thursday 25 May 2023. The vessel is 190 metres long, 32 metres wide and has a cargo capacity of 34,000 tonnes.

In a press release, Admiral Ossama Rabie, Head of the Suez Canal Authority, said that once the navigation control centre received notification that the vessel’s engine had failed and the anchor was dropped at km 157 of the canal, three tugs were deployed to the scene with the salvage team to tow the vessel; The three tugs were the “Ezzat Adel” with a bollard pull capacity of 160 tonnes and the other two tugs “Suez 1” and “Suez 2” each with a bollard pull capacity of 75 tonnes to begin connecting the towline to the vessel, however, the vessel’s anchor winch failed causing the inability to raise the anchor, hindering the process of connecting the towline. Once the winch had been repaired, the anchor was raised, the towlines were connected and the vessel was successfully towed.

He added that navigation resumed normally in both directions once the vessel was under tow and confirmed that the Suez Canal Authority has all the necessary salvage expertise and technical and navigational safety potential to deal with any potential emergency situation in a professional manner.