Oil Tanker Blocks Suez Canal for Several Hours

An aerial view taken at southern entrance of the Suez Canal near the Red Sea port city of Suez, in Egypt, on March 27, 2021. Mahmoud Khaled/AFP via Getty Images

An oil tanker ran aground in Egypt’s Suez Canal on Aug. 31, blocking the global waterway for several hours before it was refloated, according to the Suez Canal Authority.

The canal is the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia and is accountable for about 15 percent of world shipping traffic.