Overview on Egyptian SCA’s new locally-manufactured maritime units

CAIRO – 8 September 2022: To upgrade Egypt’s naval fleet, especially for the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi witnessed the inauguration of 16 locally-manufactured maritime units.

The units include dredgers, tugging boats, and ferries that come to raise the level of maritime services for transiting ships in the navigational waterway, according to a report issued by the SCA on Thursday.

The objective of upgrading the authority’s services is to enhance its competitiveness and maintains its leading position. This comes within the framework of the authority’s strategy 2023, the report added.

The newly-made units include multipurpose Al-Alamein 1 and Al-Alamein 2, which were built after contracting with the Dutch Damen Arsenal to help in dredging works of “Mohab Mameesh” and the dredger “Hussain Tantawy” the latest and largest dredgers in the Middle East.

Two other tagging boats -Azima 1 and Azima 2- were made by Al-Temsah Shipbuilding Company, one of the authority's subsidiaries. The two ferries (Karama 1 and Karama 2) were built at Port Said Shipyard to facilitate the movement of citizens and vehicles in the northern sector of the canal, the report added.

Moreover, two other Nile ferries (Luxor 1 and Luxor 2) were constrcued by the Canal Company to serve the movement of Luxor citizens in Upper Egypt.

Over more than 150 years, the Suez Canal has witnessed several successive developments, said SCA Chihef Admiral Osama Rabie in his speech at the inauguration of the new units. He added that the Suez Canal is the most important global shipping waterway, through which more than 12 percent of the total international trade movement passes.

The Suez Canal's most important achievement since its nationalization on July 26, 1956 was the decision to dig the new Suez Canal with a length of 72 kilometers, he continued, saying that the new shipping lane of the Suez Canal has shortened the transit time for the passing vessels from 22 hours to only 11 hours, Rabie added.

Rabie stated that the SCA achieved the highest annual revenue in its history in the last fiscal year 2021/2022.

The Admiral clarified that the SCA has obtained 42 maritime units over the last year.