This is the terrifying moment an out-of-control cargo ship crunched into a Suez Canal port as workers ran for their lives.
Shocking footage shows the 700ft Liberian-flagged RED ZED 1 running aground on Friday, reportedly after a ‘sudden steering failure’ en route to Sudan.
The camera shakes as the ship, towering above the little port near the Al Qantara Ferry Terminal, makes contact.
The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) confirmed that the Heavy Lift Vessel had veered off course and was dangerously close to colliding with the ferry dock.
‘The incident did not result in any human losses or injuries, and the crisis was fully managed in a record time of 60 minutes,’ it said in a statement issued Saturday.
The quick-thinking crew managed to avert disaster by turning the ship away from the dock, ensuring only the side scraped against the land.
No injuries or casualties were reported, and passengers were promptly evacuated, local media reports.
The SCA said that three tugboats were deployed ‘immediately’ to deal with the emergency and prevent greater harm.
The tugboats were able to position the vessel mid the waterway and secure it after its crew conducted repair works, it said.
The tugboats proceeded alongside the vessel to El-Balah area and then to the Great Bitter Lakes.
The Suez Canal possesses an integrated crisis management system that lets it respond to these kind of incidents, Admiral Ossama Rabiee, Chairman and Managing Director of the Suez Canal Authority, stressed.
He also confirmed that navigation in the Canal was not affected, as the crisis was fully managed in a ‘record time’ of 60 minutes.
The authority checked the vessel for damage and made repairs to a ‘small hole’ in the bow above water level, the SCA said.
The vessel is 217 metres in length, has a beam of 43m, and a gross tonnage of 41 thousand tons.
It was transiting through the canal on a journey from the Netherlands to Sudan.
In 2021, the container ship Ever Given ran aground on the banks of the Suez Canal, becoming stuck for several days and causing disruption to international shipping.
The 1,300ft-long container ship became trapped at a diagonal, blocking access to the critical global trade route running between Africa and the Sinai Peninsula.
The Panama-flagged vessel, which is as long as the Empire State building, was wedged in the canal for six days, between March 23 and March 29, 2021, causing tailbacks of hundreds of ships.
Many stranded vessels were holding animals.
The Ever Given ran aground about 3.7 miles north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez, and forced boats astern to grind to a halt.
