Vessel runs aground, briefly blocking part of Suez Canal

CAIRO (AP) — The Suez Canal authorities say a bulk carrier vessel became wedged and briefly blocked traffic in one lane of the crucial global waterway. Egyptian officials said the Panama-flagged Coral Crystal ran aground Thursday in a double-lane stretch of the canal. The brief blockage forced authorities to redirect other vessels in the convoy to the other lane. The canal’s tugboats managed to float the south-bound vessel which then resumed its voyage. Thursday’s incident came less than six months after the massive Panama-flagged Ever Given ran aground in a single-lane stretch of the canal. The hulking vessel blocked the canal for six days before being released in a massive salvage effort by a flotilla of tugboats.