A Panamanian fuel tanker split in half and sank near the Red Sea entrance to the Suez Canal, an Egyptian port official said yesterday.

Brigadier Hagag el-Husseini said the tanker's 60 tons of engine fuel was leaking but port workers had contained the spill.

The vessel was not transporting its usual cargo of oil and chemicals.

None of the 25 crew members was hurt and canal traffic was not disrupted. El-Husseini said the tanker arrived today from Yemen for repairs. It broke apart while waiting to dock 15 nautical miles from port Taufiq, at the southern entrance to the canal. The cause of the accident was not immediately known.