A 93,000-ton cargo ship blocked the Suez Canal, stopping all transit of the waterway between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. The Hong Kong-flagged Okal King Dor drifted at right angles to the
canal about 10 km south of the midway city of Ismailiya. The ship was traveling north during a sandstorm when the incident happened at about 11 am local time (
0900 GMT). It was not immediately clear what caused the ship to turn sideways in the canal, but the high wind was apparently a factor. Four tugboats realigned the ship and it resumed its course from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The canal was opened after eight hours. (Source: www.jamaicaobserver.com)