Aeneas (2018)

Classification

• Incident Type: Grounded
• Severity: High
• Evidence: UK Admiralty Court judgment and contemporary maritime reporting

The available evidence differs on whether Aeneas made bottom contact or anchored after losing propulsion. The resulting convoy casualty caused major waterway disruption.

Vessel Details

Incident Details

Key facts

• At about 17:50 local time, Aeneas reported engine trouble while leading an eight-vessel southbound convoy near kilometre 155 of the Suez Canal.
• Court records state that tugs attended Aeneas by about 18:07 and that the vessel was anchored by about 18:20. Contemporary maritime reporting described the vessel as aground, then refloated and towed to Suez.
• Panamax Alexander collided with Sakizaya Kalon at about 19:48, and those vessels later collided with Osios David. The High Court found Panamax Alexander wholly responsible for that collision sequence.
• A Suez Canal Authority statement reported no loss of life. The available sources do not establish final injury or missing-person counts.
• Aeneas was not involved in the subsequent bulk-carrier collisions and later continued her voyage. Exact Aeneas damage and repair costs are not established in the sources reviewed.

Narrative

On the evening of 15 July 2018, Aeneas led a southbound convoy through the southern section of the Suez Canal. The UK Admiralty Court record states that the vessel developed engine trouble at about 17:50 while passing kilometre 155, requested tug assistance, and was anchored by approximately 18:20. The court record does not expressly establish bottom contact.

Contemporary maritime reporting described Aeneas as having gone aground. It reported that the ship was later refloated and towed to Suez, and that it was not involved in the collisions that followed. The court record documents the following sequence: Panamax Alexander collided with anchored Sakizaya Kalon at about 19:48, and the two vessels then collided with Osios David at about 20:02. A separate collision occurred the following day when NYK Orpheus struck Panamax Alexander while Alexander remained disabled in the canal.

The 2020 High Court judgment found Panamax Alexander wholly responsible for the collision sequence and recorded claims totalling approximately USD 18 million. That judicial finding concerns the collisions, not the mechanical cause of Aeneas's loss of propulsion or whether Aeneas grounded. No public Suez Canal Authority casualty-investigation report specific to Aeneas was located.

Sequence of events

Investigation

No dedicated public Suez Canal Authority marine-casualty report for Aeneas was identified. The UK Admiralty Court judgment in Sakizaya Kalon v Panamax Alexander is a primary judicial record for the subsequent collisions. It confirms Aeneas's engine problem, tug attendance, and anchoring, and found Panamax Alexander wholly responsible for the collision sequence. It does not resolve the mechanical root cause, exact bottom contact, Aeneas's damage, or final injury and missing-person counts.

References

• Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, Admiralty judgment summaries
• UK High Court judgment, 2020 EWHC 2604 (Admlty)
• UK High Court judgment on the NYK Orpheus collision
• The Maritime Executive, Multi-Vessel Pileup in Suez Canal
• Baird Maritime, Major collision in Suez Canal
• MyShipTracking vessel record
• Port of Hamburg vessel record

Related

• Aeneas
• Egypt
• Suez Canal Authority
• Grounding

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