A sanctioned aframax tanker ran aground in the Suez Canal, blocking northbound traffic for several hours on Tuesday.
The Suez Canal Authority said the 150,600-dwt Komander (built 2004) had engine issues while sailing southbound at around 12:30 local time (0930 GMT).
Sources have now confirmed to TradeWinds that the vessel had been refloated by 14:45.
Ship tracking data shows the vessel had loaded at Murmansk and was headed to China for orders when it stalled.
The vessel was the last in a convoy of 19 sailing southbound and held up none of the other vessels.
But the authority said all 20 vessels in a northbound convoy have been stopped and are expected to remain stopped until the Komander is removed from the area.
No damage or pollution has been reported.
The Komander is on the US, UK, Swiss and Ukrainian sanctions lists for carrying Russian crude oil above the G7 price cap.
It is the only vessel owned and managed by Yo Shui Marine of Hong Kong and has been with the company since October 2024, when it was named the Krishna 1.
Since it has changed names to Prudence and then Komander and hopped flags from Panama before flying the Guyanese flag falsely, then Comoros and Russia, according to the shipping database Equasis.
The incident appears to mark a near miss for dark fleet casualties.
Ships in the dark fleet operate outside of mainstream maritime insurance and classification, and there are significant fears over who would pay for a major oil spill from such ships.
Incidents in the Suez Canal are also of particular significance given the global trade disruptions caused by the grounding of the giant 20,388-teu container ship Ever Given (built 2018).
The canal was blocked for six days in 2021 after the ship got stuck, capturing headlines around the world.
Given Houthi-related disruption in the Red Sea, many conventional global trade routes have changed in the interim.
As a result, blockage of the Suez Canal today on such a scale would be unlikely to cause the same level of disruption to conventional shipping as many operators continue to prefer the route around Africa.
