Brief Collision Between Two Tankers In Suez Canal

Ship tracking company Marine Traffic stated that two tankers, the Singapore-flagged BW Lesmes, and the Cayman Islands-flagged Burri, collided briefly in Egypt’s Suez Canal early Wednesday.

The maritime tracker showed the LNG carrier BW Lesmes stopped and pointing north, and the oil products tanker Burri moored and pointing south roughly 19 km from the canal’s southern end at 2:55 a.m. (2355 GMT).

At 2040 GMT, Burri turned sideways and collided with an already sideways BW Lesmes before backing up and going straight, according to a time-lapse posted by Marine Traffic.

Both ships’ last port of call had been Port Said to the north.

The Suez Canal Authority did not respond immediately.

The canal transports about 12% of the world’s trade. During high winds in 2021, a massive cargo ship, the Ever Given, became entangled in it, blocking traffic in both directions for six days and affecting world trade.

There have been minor troubles since then due to technical issues with certain ships.

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