CAIRO: A Suez Canal tugboat has sunk after colliding with a Hong Kong-flagged LPG tanker in the strategically important waterway, the canal authority said on Saturday, without saying if shipping traffic had been disrupted.
The tanker, Chinagas Legend, is waiting in Port Said until the completion of procedures related to the accident, canal authority head Osama Rabie said in a statement.
Two canal sources said Chinagas Legend was unharmed by the collision, was functioning normally and had anchored at Port Said.
Rabie said seven people had been on board the tugboat Fahd and that rescue work was underway, with a crane dispatched to recover the sunken vessel.
Two other canal sources said six of the tugboat's crew members had been rescued and taken to hospital, while the seventh was still unaccounted for.
The tanker, which was heading south on its journey from Singapore to the U.S., is 230 metres (755 feet) long and 36 metres (118 feet) wide, and carries a cargo of 52,000 metric tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
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Suez Canal tugboat sinks after collision with tanker
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Suez Canal tugboat sinks after collision with tanker
- The tanker, Chinagas Legend, is waiting in Port Said until the completion of procedures related to the accident
- Two canal sources said Chinagas Legend was unharmed by the collision
WHO says Dubai global emergency logistics hub ‘resuming operations’
- Hanan Balkhy, WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean regional chief, says more than 50 emergency supply requests across 25 countries are affected by the pause
- The hub stopped work this week after Iran launched waves of missile and drone attacks across the Gulf
GENEVA: The World Health Organization said its global health emergencies logistics hub in Dubai was resuming operations on Friday after a pause caused by the war in the Middle East.
“One of our most immediate concerns is the disruption of humanitarian health supply chains,” Hanan Balkhy, the UN health agency’s Eastern Mediterranean regional chief, told a press conference in Geneva.
“After a temporary pause, WHO’s Hub for Global Health Emergencies Logistics is today resuming operations,” she said, speaking from Cairo.
She said the UAE, in coordination with the UN’s World Food Programme, had confirmed that it stood ready to facilitate urgent humanitarian shipments.
“More than 50 emergency supply requests across 25 countries are currently affected,” said Balkhy.
“These pending requests — which will benefit more than 1.5 million people — include WHO supplies for Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen, and Somalia, as well as polio laboratory supplies for global detection and eradication activities across a number of countries.”
She said the WHO would be working in the coming days to process urgent new shipments and clear priority backlogs.
Balkhy noted that even before the escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, health systems in many countries were already operating at full capacity.
“WHO has pre-positioned trauma supplies and essential medicines at our warehouse in Tehran and is closely monitoring the situation — including potential mass casualty needs, disruptions to essential health services, and possible displacement,” she said.
“One of our most immediate concerns is the disruption of humanitarian health supply chains,” Hanan Balkhy, the UN health agency’s Eastern Mediterranean regional chief, told a press conference in Geneva.
“After a temporary pause, WHO’s Hub for Global Health Emergencies Logistics is today resuming operations,” she said, speaking from Cairo.
She said the UAE, in coordination with the UN’s World Food Programme, had confirmed that it stood ready to facilitate urgent humanitarian shipments.
“More than 50 emergency supply requests across 25 countries are currently affected,” said Balkhy.
“These pending requests — which will benefit more than 1.5 million people — include WHO supplies for Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen, and Somalia, as well as polio laboratory supplies for global detection and eradication activities across a number of countries.”
She said the WHO would be working in the coming days to process urgent new shipments and clear priority backlogs.
Balkhy noted that even before the escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, health systems in many countries were already operating at full capacity.
“WHO has pre-positioned trauma supplies and essential medicines at our warehouse in Tehran and is closely monitoring the situation — including potential mass casualty needs, disruptions to essential health services, and possible displacement,” she said.
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