UPDATE 3 - Suez Canal Authority refloats ship briefly grounded

UPDATES WITH QUOTE FROM HEAD OF SUEZ CANAL AUTHORITY

By Mahmoud Barakat, Abdul-Jabbar Aburas and Ibrahim al-Khazin

ANKARA/ISTANBUL (AA) – The Suez Canal Authority on Monday successfully refloated a vessel after it ran aground in the waterway near the al-Qantara city, a shipping company said.

“M/V GLORY has been refloated by the Suez Canal Authority tugs. Twenty-one vessels going southbound will commence/resume their transits,” the shipping company Leth Agencies said on Twitter.

"Only minor delays are expected," the company added.

Earlier on Monday, Leth Agencies said the Glory ship went aground and the canal authority’s tugs were trying to refloat the vessel.

Also, Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie, head of the Suez Canal Authority, told Al-Arabiya TV that the incident did not affect the traffic through the waterway.

The incident was caused by a technical failure in the ship, Rabie said.

"The navigation movement in the canal was not affected by the malfunction and will return to normal in a short period of time," he added, according to Cairo news channel.