Adm. Ossama Rabiee discusses the impact of developments in the Red Sea Region with the CEO of MSC Shipping Line
CEO of MSC Shipping Line: “We do not prefer navigating around the Cape of Good Hope, and we are waiting for the situation to stabilize to return to transit through the Suez Canal”
Adm. Ossama Rabiee, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, met with Mr. Soren Toft, CEO of MSC shipping line to discuss ways of joint cooperation, via the video conference.
The meeting was attended by a number of the Suez Canal Authority board members as well as a delegation of MSC Egypt representatives that included Mr. Tarek Fahmy, CEO of MSC Egypt, Mr. Karim Fahmy, Business Development, MSC Egypt, Mr. Ezz Eldeen Salem, Operation Manager, MSC Egypt, and Mr. Ehab Fathi, Director of Suez Canal Zone.
The meeting discussed the latest developments in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab region on global navigation, and reviewed the navigation policies of MSC shipping line through the Suez Canal.
In his speech, Adm. Ossama Rabiee stressed the Authority’s keenness to achieve direct and effective communication with its clients, meet the requirements of the current stage, and the vital necessity, imposed by the challenges, to consolidate efforts to reach working mechanisms that achieve common interests.
H.E. has expressed his anticipation of completing the discussions and following up the developments of the situation with MSC to allow for exchanging viewpoints and clarifying the situation, and consequently making more positive decisions towards the gradual return of navigation to the region.
H. E. emphasized that the Suez Canal has not stopped providing its navigational and maritime services since the outbreak of the Red Sea crisis, but persisted to develop its services and introduce a package of new navigational services that were not provided before, most notably maritime salvage, ship repair and maintenance, crew change, water ambulance, and others.
H.E. has expressed his appreciation of the long-standing cooperation with MSC which has resulted in exploring new horizons to benefit from the ship maintenance and repair services provided by SCA-affiliated shipyards. Adm. Rabiee has highlighted the repair and maintenance works provided by Port-Said Shipyard to MSC ROSSELLA III on board the floating dock FAKHR AL-QANAH.
Adm. Rabiee added that cooperation is not limited to regular maintenance works only since Port-Said Shipyard is replacing the bulbous bow of the container ship MSC RENAISSANCE with a new one for which the executive drawings of the design were prepared at Port-Said Shipyard in accordance with modern global trends of reducing fuel consumption and consequently decreasing carbon emissions; an operation which is considered a first at a national shipyard.
Adm. Rabiee stressed that the SCA continues to implement its ambitious strategy of developing the waterway, pointing out that the Southern Sector Development Project has been completed and is operational which increases navigational safety for larger vessels during Suez Canal transit.
On his part, Mr. Soren Toft, CEO of the shipping line MSC, has confirmed his keenness to follow up closely the developments in the situation in the Red Sea, and awaiting a lasting breakthrough and a full-scale stability in the region, pointing out that the situation remains complicated, lauding the SCA’s role in dealing with the current challenges with agility and understanding the nature of the stage and the clients’ demands.
Mr. Toft has explained that the Cape of Good Hope is not the preferred option for the shipping line given that it lacks navigational services which means that navigating it requires being careful more often, expressing his hopes for the permanent restoration of stability to the region which will be reflected in MSC vessels returning once more to transiting through the Suez Canal.
