QANTARA, EGYPT — A container ship loaded with more than 65,000 tonnes of corn from Ukraine bound for China was refloated after running aground in the Suez Canal, Sky News reported, citing the Suez Canal Authority (SCA). 

The SCA said the ship M/V Glory was moved by tugboats to a repair area after it suffered a technical fault 24 miles (38 kilometers) into its southward journey through the Egyptian waterway. 

The breakdown had been expected to only cause minor delays to regular passage through the canal, which provides the shortest route between Europe and Asia.

The M/V Glory left Chornomorsk port in southwest Ukraine on Dec. 25 and was heading to China with 65,970 tonnes of corn, according to the Joint Coordination Center, which oversees grain exports as part of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The center said the ship had been cleared to continue its journey after an inspection in Istanbul, Turkey, on Jan. 3.

Three of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports were freed up in July under the initiative, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey and signed by Ukraine and Russia, following Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion and blockade. Under the deal, all ships are inspected by joint teams in the Bosphorus.