Cairo – Mubasher: The New Suez Canal on Wednesday received 47 ships from both directions carrying a total load of 2.5 million tonnes, after a pontoon sank at the 73-kilometre mark of the main canal, the Suez Canal Authority’s chairman, Mohab Mamish, said.
The incident occurred at 1am on Wednesday, Mamish added, pointing out that the authority immediately sent a vessel to tow the pontoon and evacuate the canal, according to a statement released by the authority.
Mamish also assured that no lives were lost and navigation was not affected by the incident, as the new canal worked as an alternative waterway.
The Suez Canal’s profits declined 4.8% during the first quarter of the current fiscal year which ended in September 2016, to $1.3 billion from $1.366 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.
