Egyptian authorities have closed the Suez Canal on Monday after a disabled 89,000-tonne oil tanker defied efforts by tugs for a second day to free the waterway and release more than 60 blocked ships. The canal authority said the closure would remain in place "until a new order", according to a statement carried by the official Egyptian news agency Mena. The Liberian-registered vessel, "Tropic Brilliance", was immobilised on Sunday near the town of Ismailiya, 140km northeast of Cairo. The cause of the breakdown was not immediately known.