The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) confirmed that traffic in both directions has returned to normal after the tanker Komander briefly ran aground yesterday.

The incident occurred at km 47 when the tanker suffered a machinery failure around local time 12:30, SCA said in an update on Tuesday.

Five tugboats were quickly deployed, successfully refloating the 80,000-ton vessel within 30 minutes.

The tanker was later towed to the Bitter Lakes area by the salvage tug Ezzat Adel, and canal operations were restored shortly after 13:00.

Ossama Rabiee, chairman of SCA, said the quick response underscored the authority’s readiness and technical capability to handle such emergencies efficiently.

A total of 34 vessels transited the canal on Tuesday, carrying about 1.4 million mt of cargo.