Suez Canal blocked again? A large container ship lost control and ran aground on a pontoon bridge

The container ship One Orpheus, built in 2008 and owned by Japan's Meiji Shipping, left Singapore on November 23 for a pre-transit through the Suez Canal to Rotterdam, where it was due to arrive on December 15.

In the northern waters of Great Bitter Lake, the container ship "One Orpheus" lost control and collided with the pontoon bridge, blocking the navigation of six ships behind the pontoon bridge. The vessels include an MSC vessel, an oil tanker and a gas carrier. Suez Canal Authority (SCA) officials ordered the affected vessels to pause and anchor, while four tugboats were sent to help the damaged One Orpheus get out of the water.

Ossama Rabiee, president of the SCA, said that canal traffic was not affected as southbound vessels were following normal routes, while northbound vessels were re-routed southbound from the new Suez Canal to the original Suez Canal while salvage operations were carried out, thus restoring northbound traffic. Six ships delayed by the incident have also resumed sailing. A spokesman for ONE said the container ship "One Orpheus" managed to reshallow at 7.30pm local time on December 6, several hours after the incident.

"The container ship was earlier en route to Rotterdam in the Netherlands via the Western Channel when it briefly lost course due to a malfunction and ran aground near the city of Ismailia," the spokesman said. Despite all the necessary measures taken, this time it collided with the "Ahmed Mansy" pontoon bridge in the Suez Canal and ran aground."

ONE thanked all parties involved in the emergency response, including the Suez Canal Authority and the ship's crew, for their tireless efforts to free the ship. All crew members are safe and there have been no reports of contamination or damage to cargo." Immediately after the successful deshallow, the container ship "One Orpheus" was moored at the Port of Cede Anchorage for underwater inspection. The incident comes at a time when ships are beginning to divert from the Panama Canal and attacks on ships in the Red Sea are threatening shipping. 2,264 vessels passed through the canal in November, up from 2,171 in the same month in 2022, a record monthly high.