A person has died, and six crew members of the towboat "Fahd" were rescued today, Saturday, after the vessel sank in the Suez Canal following a collision with a Hong Kong-flagged tanker, according to the canal authority.
The head of the authority, Admiral Osama Rabie, stated that "marine rescue operations are underway to address the incident involving the tanker CHINAGAS LEGEND and the towboat Fahd, which is operated by the authority and sank at km 51 in the Bilah area."
He added in a statement that "the tanker is 230 meters long, 36 meters wide, has a draft of 27 feet, and a total cargo capacity of 52,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas. The vessel is currently waiting in Port Said until the procedures related to the incident are completed."
He also noted that the passage of remaining ships in the southern convoy will resume in a few hours.
The head of the authority reported that a marine rescue team was immediately deployed to save the crew of the towboat, which consists of seven members.
