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Normally the ship’s captain isn’t in-charge in the canal. The Suez Port Authority has pilots you have to hire for that.

Correct; I believe the canal's authority has liability here as they provide the mandatory pilot for the duration of the transit.

The captain may still be liable if the ship ended up like that due to mechanical failure.

Certainly in cases of collision the owners of the vessel retain liability even with a Suez Canal pilot on board[0]. It's possible that they then have a claim against the canal company for provision of negligent piloting, but I don't know that.

[0]: https://www.reedsmith.com/en/perspectives/2020/10/when-commo... - and the (linked) full judgment is also interesting; the pilot of the ship that caused the collision wasn't doing a good job on that occasion!

I've understood that (in Finland at least) the pilot's aren't actually steering the ship but giving instructions for the captain.

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