AN oil tanker ran aground in the Suez Canal Sunday, witnesses told the German Press Agency (dpa), adding that there was no apparent oil spill and no apparent injuries. The Mare Monrovia, flying the Liberian flag, ran aground in the eastern channel of Crocodile Lake, roughly halfway down the 163km long canal linking the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, witnesses said. Egyptian state media said the accident occurred when the ship's steering mechanism failed, that there had been no oil spill, and that the vessel was travelling from Greece to Singapore. Traffic was rerouted through Crocodile Lake's western channel while emergency response teams attempted to get the tanker afloat again, witnesses said. The Suez Canal is a man-made sealevel waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigating around Africa. The northern terminus is Port Said and the southern terminus is Port Tawfik at the city of Suez.
