NYK’s 2021-built LNG carrier Grace Emilia ran aground in the Suez Canal on Wednesday, but the incident did not affect the traffic in the giant waterway.
An NYK spokeswoman told LNG Prime that “the vessel grounded in the Suez Canal Mark 125.8 on February 1, 2023 at approx. 0944 hrs UTC.”
No pollution or injuries have been reported and all the relevant authorities have been notified, including the Suez Canal Authority, who have sent three tugs to provide assistance to the 89,730-dwt vessel.
The Suez Canal was not blocked as a result of the grounding and the North Bound convoy was able to continue on passage.
At 1726 hrs local time the vessel was refloated and will anchor at the Great Bitter Lake with the aid of the tugs.
“A full underwater inspection will then take place, together with an investigation into the circumstances of the grounding,” the spokeswoman said.
Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority previously said that the vessel had suffered a malfunction of its rudder in the southern part of the canal and that it did not ran aground.
Tugboats pulled the vessel to the side of the canal to allow other vessels to pass, the authority said.
NYK said there was no mechanical failure of the vessel.
Back in December 2021, NYK signed a multi-year charter deal with India’s GAIL for this LNG carrier.
The LNG carrier features WinGD’s dual-fuel slow-speed engine that can operate on marine gas oil or boil-off gas stored in the cargo tank.
In addition, it has a reliquefaction system that can use reliquefied excess boil-off gas and return it to the cargo tank.
(Article corrected and updated with a statement by NYK.)
