Minister of Transport and Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority inspect the Suez Naval Arsenal to discuss supporting the localization of the shipbuilding industry in Egypt
As part of following up on the plan to develop Egyptian ports to make Egypt a center for global trade and logistics, the Minister of Transport inspects the development projects of Port Tawfiq Port Lieutenant General Engineer Kamel Al-Wazir, Minister of Transport, conducted an inspection tour of Port Tawfiq Port in Suez to follow up on the projects being implemented within the framework of the comprehensive plan to develop the port within the comprehensive plan to develop Egyptian ports to make Egypt a global center for trade and logistics in implementation of the directives of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Republic The tour began with a presentation by the Chairman of the Giza Shipyard for Marine Engineering Company on the companys capabilities and the various workshops it includes, in addition to a number of marine units that were manufactured in the shipyard and its expertise in the field of maintenance and construction of various marine units and the highly trained workforce and how to benefit from the companys capabilities and previous experiences in developing the maritime transport industry and discussing ways of cooperation with Port Tawfiq Port and the Suez Naval Arsenal in providing all navigational services and repair and maintenance services necessary for ships transiting the Suez Canal due to their distinguished location at the southern entrance to the Canal Suez, in the north of the Gulf of Suez, where the Minister stressed the support for this tripartite cooperation, which comes within the framework of ways to localize the shipbuilding industry in Egypt. The Minister of Transport also watched a presentation on the port development plan, the projects that have been completed, and the implementation rates of ongoing projects, including the development of marine docks and land areas behind the docks to accommodate ships with large loads and the work of the breakwater in the port of Suez, as well as supporting the fleet of marine units in the authority with a number of tugs and marine units to receive giant ships with large loads and work to raise the efficiency of old marine tugs and carry out major overhauls to increase their efficiency and maintain them and improve and develop towing and guidance services in the authoritys ports. Then the Minister of Transport headed to follow up on the progress in the construction rates of a southern dock in the port, with a length of 310 meters, a width of 20 meters, and a depth of 8 meters. The Nile General Company for Roads and Bridges and the Nile General Company for Construction and Roads are building it - affiliated to the Holding Company for Roads and Bridges at the Ministry of Transport. The Minister of Transport stressed the need to intensify work and implement it according to high quality standards. He also stressed the need to improve and upgrade work to provide good services to maritime transport users, to make the port among the Egyptian ports that provide maritime transport services, as well as work to increase the ports capacity, create new job opportunities to develop the Canal region, and seek to attract major car companies in East Asia and operate large shipping lines at the port, and seek to attract large cruise ships to place Egypt within future plans to receive tourist ships. At the end of his inspection tour, Lieutenant General Engineer Kamel El-Wazir, Minister of Transport, and Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, made an inspection tour of the Suez Maritime Arsenal Company, where they followed up on the maintenance and repair work being carried out on the dry dock, as maintenance work continues for the unit "OCEAN DAHAB" according to the requirements of the International Supervision Authority. The capabilities of the mechanical lifting crane, which can lift five marine units at the same time, were also reviewed, and repair work is currently being carried out on the ferry "Sea Truck", in addition to maintenance work for two halls affiliated with the Engineering Department of the Authority. The inspection tour included inspecting the floating dock with a capacity of 55,000 tons, which is currently receiving the cargo ship "CORAL I" to complete the necessary maintenance and repair work to renew its seaworthiness certificates. The Minister of Transport confirmed during his tour of the Suez Arsenal that this visit comes within the framework of implementing the directives of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Republic, to localize the transportation industry in Egypt, including heavy industries, shipbuilding and repair industries and related industries, and to restore the strength of the Egyptian commercial fleet to make Egypt a global center for trade and logistics in implementation of the directives. It also comes within the framework of coordination with the Suez Canal Authority to develop the Suez Maritime Arsenal in partnership with the Red Sea Ports Authority and private sector companies to build large ships of various types (Ro-Ro ships - general cargo ships - clean dry bulk ships). He pointed out that all procedures and mechanisms are being implemented to maximize, develop and localize the shipbuilding and repair industry in Egypt, indicating that the Ministry of Transport aims to reach a fleet of its affiliated companies to 31 ships in 2030, which are the companies (National Navigation - Arab Bridge for Navigation - Cairo Ferries - Egyptian Oil Tankers), so that the Egyptian fleet is able to transport 20 million tons of goods annually to be able to serve strategic goods in terms of grain, oil and passengers between Egypt and the rest of the world. For his part, Lieutenant General Osama Rabie confirmed that the Suez Canal Authority has made great strides towards enhancing the technical capabilities of its shipyards and benefiting from its distinguished geographical location, which enables the classification of ship repair and maintenance services to be at the forefront of the package of maritime services provided to ships crossing the canal at the northern and southern entrances of the canal. The Chairman of the Authority explained that the activity of ship repair and maintenance in the shipyards and companies affiliated with the Authority has witnessed remarkable growth in recent times, as the Authoritys shipyards have succeeded in providing a practical model in supporting customers from shipping lines and agencies by providing repair and maintenance services that transiting ships may need in the event of malfunctions or emergency situations. Lieutenant General Rabie pointed out the success of the Suez Maritime Shipyard Company, one of the Authoritys affiliated companies, recently in completing the necessary maintenance work for the dry bulk ship "ZOGRAFIA" after the ships hull was exposed to external and internal damage following an attack during its journey across the Red Sea. |