A sanctioned Russian crude oil tanker named Komander briefly disrupted navigation in the Suez Canal on Tuesday, October 28, after suffering engine failure and running aground.

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) reported that its rescue teams managed to refloat the vessel within just 30 minutes, ensuring that canal traffic quickly returned to normal in both directions.

According to the SCA, the incident occurred around 12:30 p.m. local time near kilometer 47 of the canal, when the tanker, sailing southbound as part of the northern convoy, suffered an engine malfunction that caused it to lose power and drift out of the channel.

The authority immediately dispatched five tugboats, Mohamed Beshir, Mosaed 4, Port Said 3, Suez 1, and Nabil El-Helaly, to the site. Another tugboat, Ezzat Adel, with a 160-ton bollard pull capacity, joined the operation to assist in the refloating and towing process.

Within half an hour, the tugboats successfully freed the grounded tanker and began towing it to the Bitter Lakes area for inspection. By 1:00 p.m., the situation had been fully resolved and normal navigation had resumed.

SCA Chairman Admiral Osama Rabie was quoted in local media emphasising the canal’s ability to respond swiftly to emergencies, crediting the authority’s skilled personnel, advanced tug fleet, and technical expertise in handling difficult maritime situations.

The Komander measures 274 meters in length and 48 meters in width and was carrying approximately 80,000 tons of crude oil at the time of the incident. Vessel tracking data indicates it had loaded cargo at Murmansk, Russia, and was likely bound for China when the malfunction occurred.

The tanker is listed under sanctions imposed by the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Ukraine for transporting Russian crude oil above the G7 price cap. It is the sole vessel owned and managed by Hong Kong-based Yo Shui Marine.

The ship, built in 2004, has changed names and flags several times in recent years, previously known as Heracles, Krishna 1, and Prudence, and has flown under the flags of Panama, Guyana, Comoros, and most recently, Russia.

The vessel was reportedly the last ship in a 19-vessel southbound convoy, and none of the other ships were delayed. However, the 20 ships in the northbound convoy were temporarily stopped until the Komander was cleared from the navigation lane.

No damage or pollution was reported following the grounding.

The SCA stated that 34 ships, carrying a total of 1.4 million tonnes of cargo, transited the canal on Tuesday, with normal movement restored shortly after the incident.

The Komander is part of the “dark fleet”- tankers that operate outside mainstream insurance and classification systems, often transporting sanctioned oil. Maritime analysts have warned that such ships pose higher safety and environmental risks, particularly in narrow trade routes like the Suez Canal.

Reference: Suez Canal Authority