The Suez Canal Authority announced that it has recovered its tugboat Fahd which had on 5 August collided with a giant tanker in the Canal.
Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Chairman, Admiral Osama Rabie, said that a rescue crane was used to lift the tugboat to complete clearing the canal’s navigational passage.
Admiral Rabie praised the efforts of the marine rescue team and all the workers participating in the rescue operation, explaining that they had faced several challenges that included strong water currents, lack of visibility, as well as diving to depths of 27 metres. He said the site of the collision and subsequent recovery of the sunken tugboat had been secured navigationally and environmentally against potential oil spill accidents.
On 5 August, one crew member lost his life when a Suez Canal tugboat collided with a Chinese LPG tanker in the Canal; the tugboat consequently sank. The news was announced Admiral Rabie who also said that the other six crew members that had been on the tugboat were rescued and moved to hospital.
The SCA said that its tugboat Fahd had collided with the LPG tanker China Gas Legend at the 51 kilometre point in al-Balah bypass. The collision damaged the tugboat’s hull, causing it to sink.
The tanker was crossing the Suez Canal on its journey from Singapore to the United States. Mr Rabie said that southbound traffic in the canal had not been interrupted, whereas
the northbound traffic had resumed via the canal’s eastern bypass.
Salvage operations were due to begin after the last vessel leaves the area.
The China Gas Legend, currently sailing under the flag of Hong Kong, is 230 metres long and 36 metres wide, with a draft of 27 feet and a total load of 52,000 tons. It is now waiting at Port Said until legal procedures related to the collision are completed.