CAIRO (Reuters) – A Suez Canal tugboat has sunk after colliding with a Hong Kong-flagged LPG tanker in the strategically important waterway, the Suez Canal Authority said on Saturday, without specifying whether there was any disruption to shipping traffic.
Seven people were on board the tugboat “Fahd”, the canal authority’s head, Osama Rabie, said in a statement, adding that rescue work was underway with a crane dispatched to recover the sunken vessel.
Rabie said the collision had occurred while the tanker, “CHINAGAS LEGEND”, was in the Ballah area, heading south on its journey from Singapore to the United States.
“The tanker is currently waiting in Port Said until the completion of the procedures related to the accident,” Rabie said.
The tanker is 230 meters long and 36 meters wide and carries a cargo of 52,000 tons of LPG.
(Reporting by Yousri Mohammed; Writing by Hatem Maher; Editing by Angus MacSwan and David Holmes)
