Suez floating shipyard sinks

Suez Arsenal Company announced on Tuesday that the floating dock used for repairing vessles has capsized, state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper said.

The operations unit at the Suez Canal Authority received a report from workers about the incident.

An official source at the authority set the preliminary losses at LE100 million, adding that a team of officials had moved to the scene to investigate the reasons behind the incident.

A team of engineers has been sent to rescue the floating shipyard. Two vessels that had been on the capsized dock were brought back to the surface.

In February 2010, a passenger ferry caught fire while being repaired on a floating shipyard owned by the arsenal company. The fires were put under control by four naval fire engines. The losses were estimated at LE500,000.

The Suez Canal is one of Egypt’s most important sources for hard currency, along with tourism and remittances.