‘Suez traffic regular, thanks to advanced tech systems

The head of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), Osama Rabie, said that the navigation traffic in the canal is regular and was not affected by bad weather.

“The Suez Canal succeeded on Saturday in transiting 89 ships with a total net tonnage of 5.3 million, in addition to transiting 88 ships yesterday in both directions, with a total net tonnage of 6 million tons,” Rabie said in a statement on Sunday.

This proved the authority’s ability to manage the navigational course in the most difficult climatic conditions, thanks to its advanced technological systems for navigation control, the SCA head said.

Rabie said that the navigation movement in the canal witnessed on Sunday the resumption of transiting cargo ship Xin Hai Tong 23 after fixing technical faults with the knowledge of the ship’s crew to ensure its safety for sailing.

Rabie stressed that the Suez Canal has made great strides towards implementing an ambitious strategy to improve the navigational services provided to customers. He said that his authority is keen to keep pace with the rapid development in the global ship industry through the continuation of development projects in the canal.

The government is keen to maximise the benefit from the economic value of the Suez Canal at the regional and international levels to strengthen Egypt’s position as a global trade and logistics hub, Rabie said.

The Suez Canal acts as a link between production centres in the Far East and distribution and consumption centres in the Middle East, Europe and the Americas, which gives Egypt an advantage to boost its commercial relations with different world countries and facilitate the entry of Egyptian exports to all foreign markets.

Rabie said that the Suez Canal is working on implementing a comprehensive plan to develop and modernise its maritime fleet by adding new marine units and building salvage tugs with high capacities according to the latest global technology and in line with the increase in the sizes and tonnages of ships going through the canal.

Also, the new container ship One Friendship, the latest addition to the shipping line One, transited the canal for the first time on its journey from Saudi Arabia to Egypt.