Traffic in Suez Canal back to normal after tugboats refloat stuck ship

After briefly halting traffic in the Suez Canal, the stuck tanker AFFINITY V has been refloated by tugboats and is now moving slowly.

Navigation in the canal came to a standstill early Thursday after the Singapore-flagged oil tanker reported that it had run aground in the busy shipping lane.

According to TankerTrackers.com, the tanker had lost control while heading southbound and was later struck by a smaller tanker named AMELIA before coming to a halt.

But because it was not fully-laden with cargo, it could be refloated.

The Suez Canal is a strategic waterway that connects the Mediterranean and the Red Sea and is considered the main source of foreign currency for the Egyptian government.

The 152-year-old canal assumes 12% of global trade traffic and maintains its importance in world trade.

The canal, with a permissible draft of only 66 feet, can accommodate 61.2% of the world's tanker fleets, 92.7% of bulk carrier fleets and 100% of container ships and other ships.

In 2021, one of the largest container ships -- the Ever Given -- was stuck in the canal for 106 days and caused a big loss both in global trade and Egypt's economy.