Air survey shows canal unpolluted

A survey of the Suez Canal observed no traces of pollutants from ships waiting to transit the waterway.

Minister of Environmental Affairs Yasmine Fouad Thursday took an aerial tour of the Suez Canal region yesterday to assess the environmental impact of the recent blockage.

The tour came three days after the Panamanian-flagged container vessel Ever Given was re-floated six days after it ran aground.

The Ministry of Environment al Affairs is working closely with the Suez Canal Authority that operates the waterway, Fouad said.

The purpose of the aerial survey was to assess the areas where the vessels are waiting to transit the canal, the minister added.

“We just wanted to evaluate the environmental impact from the presence of such a large number of vessels in the region, the minister added, pointing out that seven of the ships had 70,000 head of cattle onboard.

Three of the ships were stranded in Lake Timsah and three others in the Great Bitter Lake, Fouad said.

These stranded vessels are under close monitoring as they extremely dangerous sources of pollution, the minister said.

However, the survey observed no traces of pollutants from ships waiting to transit the waterway, she said, noting that none of the ships had disposed of any dead animals or discharged any effluent in the water, nor was there any trace of oil pollution.

Meanwhile, the Suez Canal Authority revealed yesterday that the zone’s ports received 38 vessels within two days.

As for Port Said  ports, they  witnessed the handling of 24 vessels in ports east and west of Port Said .

West Port Said Port recorded the entry of a container ship and the exit of a general cargo ship.

The general cargo ship Exe Otter ship left el-Arish yesterday.

Three container ships of total 77,200 tonnes with 3,850 containers onboard and two liquid bulk carriers with loads totalling 127,570 tonnes berthed at Ain Sokhna Port.

Five vessels arrived in el-Adabiya Port and two ships departed. Export cargo is expected to reach 22,401 tonnes and imported cargo, 26,460 tonnes.