Rabie: "The Suez Canal did not stop its development and modernization process during the Red Sea crisis."

Richards" The Gemini Cooperation's modification of the shipping service route operating on the India-Mediterranean route to transit the Suez Canal is a good opportunity that will be built upon in the future

Admiral Osama Rabie Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority SCA met with Mr. Juan Pablo Richards, CEO for Southern Europe of the shipping line Hapag-Lloyd accompanied by Engineer Marwan Al-Sammak, Chairman of the shipping line in Egypt to discuss ways of joint cooperation, in the presence of Admiral Ashraf Atwa, Vice Chairman of SCA and a number of members of the Authority’s Board of Directors, at the Guidance Building in Ismailia Governorate.

The future sailing plans of the"Gemini Cooperation"  

The meeting addressed the future sailing plans of the Hapag-Lloyd shipping line in light of the announcement by the "Gemini Cooperation" alliance, which includes it and the Maersk shipping line, regarding the return of the "IMX" shipping service operating on the trade route between India/Middle East and the Mediterranean to cross through the Suez Canal in both directions instead of the Cape of Good Hope route.

The keenness of major shipping lines to return to traffic through the Suez Canal.

At the beginning of the meeting, Admiral Osama Rabie expressed his pride in the long-standing cooperation between the Suez Canal Authority SCA and the Hapag-Lloyd shipping line, stressing that the return of the first Gemini Alliance services is a good step that reflects the keenness of major shipping lines to return to crossing through the Suez Canal.

Advantage of the multiple benefits

Meanwhile the chairman of SCA called for the Hapag-Lloyd shipping line to resume more of its shipping services to cross the Suez Canal, and to take advantage of the multiple benefits it offers related to the economics of the journey and the savings in distance, time and cost. Rabie  stressed that the Suez Canal has not stopped its development and modernization process and has succeeded during the crisis period in adding many navigational services that did not exist before, in parallel with the completion of the development of the southern sector of the canal and the modernization of the fleet of marine units belonging to the Authority.

Importance of the Suez Canal and the added value it provides

On the other hand  Mr. Juan Pablo Richards, CEO for Southern Europe at Hapag-Lloyd, emphasized the strategic importance of the Suez Canal and the added value it provides, making it the shortest and fastest route for all customers

Richards emphasized that rerouting the shipping service operating on the India-Mediterranean route to transit the Suez Canal is a good opportunity that will be built upon in the future, provided that the security situation in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb region remains stable, as security remains the primary driver.

 He Indicated  the German group’s keenness to increase the size of its investments in Egypt, saying, “We recognize the advantage of the strategic location of the canal and Egyptian ports, and Egypt remains the best place and the right destination for investing in maritime infrastructure,” noting in this regard that the group has invested $600 million in the Tahya Misr terminal at Damietta port.

Localizing the marine units industry

CEO of the Southern Europe region of the shipping line Hapag-Lloyd praised the great leap achieved by the Suez Canal in developing its navigational and logistical services and its move towards localizing the marine units industry and opening up to the European market, expressing his hope to cooperate with the Suez Canal Authority in new areas of work that achieve common interests and enhance cooperation relations.Official Spokesperson for the Suez Canal Authority George Safwat stated 

Related : "Gemini" alliance resume traffic Suez Canal with the "ME-11" shipping service

Source : Press - Release received by Maritime Tickers

# Damietta port #SCA #Hapag-Lloyd shipping line #Gemini Cooperation #Admiral Osama Rabie #Juan Pablo Richards # Marwan Al-Sammak#future Navigation  plans