The Suez Canal Authority reported that the salvage operation for the tug that sunk in an accident with a tanker was completed.
The authority has also asserted that traffic through the Canal is running normally in both directions and that it wasn’t affected by the salvage works.
The body of one missing crew member of the sunken tugboat FAHD was found by the Suez Canal authorities after the collision incident between the oil tanker Chinagas Legend and FAHD, an SCA tugboat, which took place at km 51 in Al-Ballah area.
It’s worth mentioning that the SCA’s maritime salvage team succeeded in rescuing 6 of the sunken tugboat’s 7 crew members who were hospitalized to carry out the necessary checkups.
The incident happened during the transit of the Hong Kong-flagged tanker among the south convoy amid its journey from Singapore to the United States. The collision incident resulted in damage to the hull of the SCA tugboat, and to its sinking.
Suez Canal Authority´s chairman and managing director Ossama Rabiee has pointed out that SCA divers have found the body in the sunken tugboat’s accommodation cabin during their survey of the cabins of the sunken wreckage, and the incident location at a depth of 24 m. through a number of consecutive diving groups.
Adm. Ossama Rabiee, also pointed out that the recovery site of the sunken tugboat FAHD has been secured navigationally and environmentally against potential oil spill incidents.
The authority said the SCA’s maritime salvage team completed the operation without affecting the traffic through the Canal, despite the challenges the salvage team had faced including strong water currents, zero visibility underwater and deep diving to depths of 27m, which required using divers’ hyperbaric chambers to help the divers reach normal air pressure.
Suez Canal has also explained that the lifting and recovery operation of the tugboat FAHD entailed numerous measures, starting carrying out a survey for the collision incident location to locate the sunken tugboat, followed by securing the location using warning and guiding buoys to enable the vessels to transit safely and afterwards, commencing the lifting of the sunken tugboat after conducting the necessary recovery calculations.
