Sisi urges developing Suez Canal Authority’s efforts to localize fishing vessels industry

CAIRO – 3 September 2022: Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has urged developing the Suez Canal Authority’s (SCA) efforts to localize the industry of fishing boats and ships.

In a meeting with SCA Chairman Osama Rabie, Sisi ordered developing these efforts to produce fishing boats that are used locally by fishermen in Egyptian lakes that have been developed, including Lake Manzala.

This comes as an alternative to the primitive wooden boats currently used, Presidential Spokesman Bassam Radi said, noting that the new boats are equipped with modern equipment and refrigerators to store fish.

Such efforts aim at supporting the fishermen and their capability to double their fishing production, the spokesman said.

During the meeting, Rabie said the canal has achieved unprecedented record numbers and rates throughout its history in terms of annual revenue, which amounted to about $7 billion, and the highest transit rate for ships.

The canal also recorded its highest net tonnage of nearly 1.32 billion tons and managed to receive a new generation of giant container ships with huge capacities and tonnage.

The meeting comes only few days after navigation at the canal, the shortest sea route between Asia and Europe through which 12 percent of global trade passes was suspended for 5 hours on Wednesday as Oil tanker AFFINITY V coming from Portugal run aground in the canal.

The Affinity V, with a length of 252 meters, was heading to the port of Yanbu in Saudi Arabia when it got stuck in the Suez Canal due to a malfunction in its steering system, the spokesperson for the Suez Canal Authority George Safwat said in a statement on Wednesday evening.

After the ship was refloated, Rabie stated that a total of 57 ships with a total of 3.4 million tons crossed the canal in both directions on the next day.

Rabie affirmed that the SCA employees have rescue expertise and capabilities to deal professionally with potential emergencies.