Oil tanker breaks down in Suez Canal, briefly delaying traffic through critical waterway

June 4 (UPI) -- A tanker ship transporting crude oil from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea broke down in the Suez Canal, briefly delaying traffic through the critical waterway on Sunday.

Ossama Rabei, the head of Egypt's Suez Canal Authority, said in a statement that traffic through the canal is now "regular" in both directions after officials "succeeded in dealing quickly" with the technical failure.

The tanker, named the Seavigour, is flagged to Malta and was moored as soon as a machinery malfunction was reported.

Officials quickly connected the ship to tugboats and successfully pulled it about three miles to remove it from blocking the canal

.Rabei said the ship was carrying 82,000 tons of cargo and is scheduled to resume crossing the canal once repaired.

"It is worth noting that today, Sunday, the navigation traffic in the canal is witnessing the crossing of 65 ships from both directions, with a total net tonnage of 3.5 million tons," Rabie said.

Construction on the canal was completed in 1869 and connects the two seas through the Isthmus of Suez.

In recent years, Egypt has expanded the canal -- which allows for shipments to quickly navigate from Europe and the North Atlantic region to ports along the northern Indian Ocean.