The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) successfully responded to a fire on the barge SUEZ 2 in the Suez waiting area. Its salvage units rescued crew members and safely transferred the cargo.
The fire broke out while the barge was transferring an oil shipment to the vessel RAWAN in the E10 waiting area, outside the Canal’s navigation waterway west of the Gulf of Suez. The SCA acted immediately after receiving the distress call and deployed marine units to the site.
Rapid response and firefighting
The tugboat AMIN ZEID led the firefighting operation. The vessel, with a bollard pull of 75–80 tons, helped control the fire and carried out cooling operations to prevent reignition.
The SCA also deployed three launches to support the operation and move the barge to a safer location.
Crew rescue and ongoing search
Rescue teams saved three of the four crew members. Ambulances transported them to the Suez Health Insurance Hospital.
Search operations continue for the missing crew member under the supervision of the Port Tawfik Transit Office.
Safe cargo transfer and vessel recovery
SCA teams safely transferred the oil cargo from SUEZ 2 to another barge, AMERICANA, operated by Rakeen. They then towed the damaged barge to Zaytiyat Port by midnight.
The incident did not affect other vessels in the Suez waiting area. Authorities confirmed that navigation returned to normal, with ships joining the northbound convoy as scheduled.
Operational readiness
Adm. Ossama Rabiee, Chairman of the SCA, said the authority handled the emergency at full speed to ensure safety. He emphasized that the SCA remains fully prepared to manage similar incidents through trained personnel and specialized marine units.
On the same day, 11 vessels transited the canal from the south and 19 from the north, with a total net tonnage of 1.5 million tons.
