Fattah News

Egypt is studying further expansions of the Suez Canal to extend and complete a second channel of the waterway, the canal's head said on Monday, a move that could allow for higher volumes of shipping and prevent blockages from halting traffic.The comments come as the canal is seeing a sharp fall in revenue due to shipping companies diverting away from the waterway, the shortest route between Europe and Asia, because of attacks by Houthi militants in Yemen against ships in the Red Sea.Any new extension would come on top of current work to extend the second channel by 10 kilometers, and to deepe

China has called for an end to attacks on civilian vessels in the Red Sea that have dramatically widened the Hamas-Israel conflict and placed Beijing's commercial interests along the Suez Canal at risk.The Iran-backed Houthi militia from Yemen that seeks "Death to Israel" is challenging the ability of the world's biggest trading nation to defend billions in strategic investments in Egypt.Since President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi came to power in 2014, China has stepped up its investment and commercial activities along Egypt's Suez Canal…

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is deploying two Royal Navy ships and surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean to support Israel and reinforce regional stability, his Downing Street office said on Thursday.The military package, which includes P8 surveillance planes, other surveillance assets, two auxiliary ships, three Merlin helicopters and a company of Royal Marines, will be on standby in the region to provide "practical support to Israel ...

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has directed the government to cooperate with AP Moeller-Maersk to establish a network to produce and distribute green energy and clean fuels for ships, a presidency spokesperson said on Monday.Maersk Chief Executive Soren Skou discussed with Sisi during their meeting a project to produce clean fuel for ships with investments of $15 billion, the statement added.There were no immediate details on the mechanism of the cooperation.(Reuters - Reporting by Moataz Mohamed; Editing by Jan Harvey)

Abu Dhabi's AD Ports Group and the Red Sea Ports Authority have signed a Term Sheet and a Head of Terms agreement for what they say are major port projects along Egypt’s coastline, including multi-purpose terminals, and cruise ship berths.The first agreement will see AD Ports Group develop, operate, and manage a multi-purpose terminal in Safaga Port in a consortium with the Red Sea Ports Authority and the Egyptian Group for Multipurpose Terminals Company, the commercial arm of…

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated a large naval base on Saturday 135 km from the border with Libya, flanked by close ally Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Libya's unity president,Egypt says the July 3 base will help it protect strategic and economic interests as well as helping guard against irregular migration as it boosts its naval presence on the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.At the inauguration, two Mistral helicopter carriers…

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has started dredging work to extend a second lane that allows for two-way traffic in a southern section of the canal near to where a giant container ship got stuck for six days in March, it said on Saturday.The SCA announced this week that it was planning to extend a second canal lane that opened in 2015 by 10 km to make it 82 km long, and would widen and deepen a single lane stretch at the southern end of the canal.The work had begun following directives from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi "to immediately start implementing the proposed development plan

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) plans to expand and deepen the southern stretch of the waterway where a containership became jammed and blocked traffic for six days in March, Chairman Osama Rabie said in a televised address on Tuesday.Rabie presented the plan at an event attended by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who indicated that the project should be completed in 24 months at most.The SCA plans to widen the southernmost 30-kilometer (18-mile) stretch of the waterway between the city of Suez and the Bitter Lakes area by 40 meters (130 feet) eastwards, Rabie said.

Egypt's Suez Canal must move quickly to upgrade its technical infrastructure if it is to avoid future shipping disruption, shipping industry sources said, as the major trade route tries to bounce back from a costly six-day closure.International supply chains were thrown into disarray on March 23 when the 400-meter-long (430-yard) container ship Ever Given ran aground in the canal, with specialist rescue teams taking almost a week to free her after extensive dredging and repeated tugging operations.Egypt will get two new tugboats…

The Suez Canal expects 140 ships to pass on Tuesday after the freeing of a container ship stranded for nearly a week allowed it to reopen, but experts warned that disruptions to global shipping and at ports could take months to resolve.The blockage threw global supply chains into disarray, threatening costly delays for firms already wrestling with COVID-19 restrictions, and nearly doubled rates for oil product tankers.Shipping convoys through the canal resumed on Monday evening…

Shipping was on the move again late on Monday in Egypt's Suez Canal after tugs refloated a giant container ship which had been blocking the channel for almost a week, causing a huge build-up of vessels around the waterway.With the 400-meter-long (430-yard) Ever Given dislodged, 113 ships were expected to transit the canal in both directions by early Tuesday morning, Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chairman Osama Rabie told reporters.He said a backlog of 422 ships could be cleared in 3 -1/2 days.The Ever Given had become jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal…

Suez Canal salvage teams intensified excavation and dredging on Sunday around a massive container ship blocking the busy waterway ahead of attempts to refloat it, with two sources saying work had been complicated by rock under the ship’s bow.Diggers were working to remove parts of the canal’s bank and expand dredging close to the ship’s bow to a depth of 18 meters, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said in a statement.There was no mention of new attempts to release the ship with tugs…

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has ordered preparations for lightening the cargo of the giant container ship grounded in the Suez Canal, the head of the canal’s authority told Egypt’s Extra News on Sunday.The Ever Given containership has been blocking the waterway since Tuesday and salvage teams have been hoping to free it with dredgers and tugs without unloading any of its cargo.(Reporting by Omar Fahmy Writing by Aidan Lewis)

Greece urged the European Union on Wednesday to reconsider its customs union with Turkey in response to Ankara's continued gas exploration in contested Mediterranean areas, deploring what it termed Ankara's "imperial fantasies."After meeting Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Nicosia, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said they all agreed that Ankara is "blatantly" violating international law."Turkey's leadership has fantasies of imperial behavior with aggressive behavior from Syria to Libya, Somalia to Cyprus, from the Aegean to the Caucus," he said.The EU should also take note of Turkey's 'many violations' of the EU-Turkey customs union accord…

The international container terminal operating company headquartered in The Hague, APM Terminals said that it is working closely with the government of Egypt on the final pieces of the jigsaw that will ensure the success of Egypt Vision 2030 for Port Said East Port and the Suez Canal Container Terminal (SCCT).Once in place, it is set to regain its position as one of the most competitive ports in the South and East Mediterranean region, APM said in a press release.As part of Egypt Vision 2030, the Egyptian Government has made massive investments in infrastructure. On May 5, 2019, Egypt’s President, Mr. Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi inaugurated the Ismailia tunnel…

Egypt's government denied in a statement on Thursday that the Suez Canal Authority was seeking a 300 million euro loan from Gulf lenders. Three senior banking sources that did not wish to be named had told Reuters last week that the authority requested a loan from Gulf banks in order to purchase two dredgers. "The Suez Canal has not borrowed any money from any foreign banks, and everything that had been mentioned about this issue is nothing but baseless rumours," the government statement said. The sources last week provided no further details on the loan and the Canal Authority could not be immediately reached for comment. The Suez Canal…

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreed by DP World, Egypt’s Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport and the Suez Canal Authority is aiming to develop a new Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Egypt’s 6th of October City, a satellite town in the Giza Governorate and part of the urban area of Cairo. The three partners will bid for the government contract for the project later this year. The proposed ICD will increase the flow of cargo between ships and major land transportation networks in the country, creating a central distribution point. Under the MoU, DP World will lead and represent the alliance in the bidding process and become the ICD operator if the tender is won.

Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO, DP World and Admiral Mohab Mamish, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority and Chairman of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), presented details of the recent agreement to develop an integrated industrial and residential zone at Sokhna in Egypt to investors and businesses in Dubai. The opportunities to invest and launch operations in the project were outlined to company representatives, many of whom already have existing outlets in Dubai’s Jebel Ali Freezone (Jafza). Sokhna World Zone will create a sustainable industrial area to attract foreign investment and will feature a range of investment incentives and encourage innovation using best international practice in the management of Special Economic Zones (SEZs)…

Egypt said on Friday its navy had found human remains, wreckage and the personal belongings of passengers floating in the Mediterranean, confirmation that an EgyptAir jet had plunged into the sea with 66 people on board. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi offered condolences for those on board, amounting to Egypt's official acknowledgement of their deaths, although there was still no explanation of why the Airbus had crashed. "The Egyptian navy was able to retrieve more debris from the plane, some of the passengers' belongings, human remains, and plane seats," the Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement. The navy was searching an area about 290 km (180 miles) north of the port city of Alexandria, just south of where the signal from the plane was lost early on Thursday.

DP World, has formed a joint venture (JV) company with Egypt’s General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone. The new venture will see the global terminal operator assist in developing projects in the SCZone, the main trade route between Europe and Asia, serving more than 8% of annual global trade. The new venture will develop projects in the Suez Canal Zone, one of the most promising trade zones given the calibre of its logistics facilities and its strategic location. The announcement of the joint company came during Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's meeting today with DP World Chairman and CEO, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, and the Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, Mohab Mamish.

Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority Mohab Mameish and CEO of DP World Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem signed an initial partnership agreement in the UAE to establish a major development company for the development of Ain Sokhna, Al-Ahram daily reported. The partnership was first announced in August following talks between Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, CEO of DP World Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayen and Mamish. The Suez Canal project includes the development of a 460 square-kilometer economic zone around the canal that the government says will be develop as an international industrial and logistics hub that will attract ships and generate foreign investment.

Admiral Mohab Mamish, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority and Chairman of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), and Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO, DP World, signed a partnership agreement to develop an integrated industrial and residential zone at Sokhna in Egypt, in the presence of Sherif Ismail, the Prime Minister of Egypt. The signing took place at a ceremony in Sharm el-Sheikh at the World Youth Forum. The agreement will establish a joint venture between SCZone (51%) and DP World (49%) with DP World managing the zone, which is projected to start in the first quarter of 2018. In line with the Egyptian government’s plans to develop the Suez Canal Corridor and the new administrative capital…

Egypt is in talks with global shipping firms to change the way it charges vessels to pass through the Suez Canal, offering discounts for advance payments as it seeks to raise much-needed hard currency from a struggling industry. Denmark's A.P. Moller-Maersk, which runs the world's biggest container shipping line, said on Tuesday it was considering proposals from the Suez Canal Authority for a new toll system. "They have proposed a new payment method and presented it to us, and we are looking at it now…