Suez Canal reopened for traffic

Traffic on the waterway had ground to a halt in both directions

Egypt's Suez Canal has reopened for shipping traffic, three days after a broken-down oil tanker forced the longest closure in almost 30 years.

The stranded Liberian-registered vessel has been shifted by tugs and is moving north, the Suez Canal Authority said.

The tanker refloated after some of its load was transferred to a smaller ship.

More than 100 vessels have been waiting to use the strategic link between the Red Sea and Mediterranean, one of Egypt's most important revenue sources.

First convoy

The Tropic Brilliance broke down late on Saturday near Ismailiya, 140km (90 miles) north-east of Cairo.

A spokesman for the Suez Canal Authority said Egyptian salvage workers had finally refloated the tanker after pumping out 25,000 tons of oil - about a quarter of its load - to another vessel.

"It is now on its way to Port Said at the northern entrance of the canal," the spokesman said.

He said the first convoy of 46 ships was preparing to follow the tanker through the 120 mile (195km) waterway.

Big earner

A second group of 55 vessels is expected to begin the journey in the opposite direction to the Red Sea overnight on Tuesday, the authority added.

The last time the canal was closed for more than one day was after the Arab-Israeli war in 1967.

The strategic waterway did not reopen until January 1975.

However, traffic has sometimes been suspended because of bad weather.

The canal earned Egypt $256m (£138m) in September with revenues expected to hit a record $3bn in 2004, according to figures from the Suez Canal Authority.

About 12,400 ships passed through the canal between January and September, with 2,300 of these being oil tankers.