Navigation in the eastern section of the Suez Canal was suspended today due to the collision of a container ship against a bridge, Egyptian state television Al Qahera News reported.

According to the network, the Suez Canal Authority, which manages the sea route, is trying to reset navigation in that section “after the collision of a container ship against a bridge.”

For its part, a source from the managing entity told EFE that The ship crashed into the Mansi Bridgein the new section of the canal, and that the Authority’s teams have traveled to the site of the collision with tugboats to restore navigation as soon as possible.

Eight incidents in the last year

The last one recorded on the road was at the end of Augustwhen another collision between a tanker and an oil tanker forced navigation to be suspended for a few hours.

The Suez Canal, an important source of foreign currency income for Egypt, has been scene this year of at least eight incidentsalthough not all events of these characteristics interrupted traffic in the canal.

The last serious incident took place the first week of August around collision of a tugboat and an oil tanker crossing the sea lanewhich caused the temporary suspension of traffic on the canal.

That incident, which caused the death of a tugboat crew memberhappened two months after the oil tanker “Seavigour” paralyzed transit in the canal after suffering a mechanical failure for which it had to be refloated.

The most serious event took place in March 2021 when the container ship “Ever Given” blocked the maritime passage with its 400 meters in length and 18,000 containers on board, which caused a huge traffic jam along this route through which around 10% of the world’s goods pass and which reports to Egypt about 8 billion dollars annually.