Watch two container ships collide on Egypt's Suez Canal

The German and Singaporean vessels made contact on Monday, causing delays on the important trade route

Two container ships on the Suez Canal crashed on Monday (YouTube/PoliceInPortsaid)

The moment two large container ships collided in the Suez Canal, as if in slow motion, has been captured on camera.

They crashed at the northern end of the Egyptian waterway on Monday, officials confirmed, blocking an important trade route and causing traffic delays.

“The incident has severely interrupted the second southbound convoy and the northbound convoy is therefore expected to be delayed,” Agents Inchape Shipping Services told Reuters at the time.

The vessels that made contact were a German-flagged MV Colombo Express and a Singaporean-flagged MV Maersk Tanjong.

Skip forward to about 2:15 for the incident

Agents Inchape added that there had been no causalities as a result of the smash, but that the Colombo Express did have a 65ft-long dent on its left side.

It also reportedly bumped four containers from the Colombo Express into the water, according to Slate.

The Suez Canal was the first to link the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea and was opened for navigation on the 17 November 1869.

It is the fastest crossing from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean, the Suez Canal Authority says, and “accidents are almost nil compared with other waterways”.

The canal also generates roughly $5 billion each year in income for Egypt, Reuters says.