Yesterday, Adm. Ossama Rabiee, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, discussed with Mr. Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the necessary executive procedures for resuming the return of the major maritime shipping lines to transit through the Suez Canal as the security situation begins to stabilize in the Red Sea region coinciding with the implementation of the truce agreement. This was during the meeting that was held at the Authority's headquarters at Irshad building in Ismailia Governorate.

The meeting comes on the sidelines of the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization official visit and the delegation accompanying to open the International Maritime Organization regional representative office in Egypt, and in light of the cooperation and joint work between the Suez Canal Authority and the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

At the beginning of the meeting, Adm. Ossama Rabiee stressed the readiness of the Suez Canal to operate at its full capacity to accommodate the navigational services of the major shipping lines in the light of the preparations for the gradual return of global trade movement to its normal path through the Suez Canal with the return of stability to the security situation in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab region. In this regard, H.E pointed out that the Suez Canal will receives a group of CMA CGM shipping line vessels within the EPIC navigation service on the trade route between South Asia and Europe as of Thursday that corresponds to January 23rd.

Moreover, Adm. Ossama Rabiee pointed out that the Suez Canal continues providing its navigational and maritime services normally and developing them optimally to meet customer requirements and keep pace with the developments in the maritime transport industry. The Authority has succeeded in developing new services that were not previously provided which include ship repair and maintenance services, marine ambulance services, bunkering services, solid waste collection and disposal services, marine crew change services and other services.

The Chairman of the Authority emphasized that the Suez Canal succeeded in intensifying its utmost efforts during the past period to complete the project of developing the southern sector of the canal's waterway in both sides to serve as an additional safety valve that contributes to raising the navigational safety factor in the canal and enhancing the canal's ability to confront emergency situations as well as increasing the accommodation capacity of the canal by 6-8 additional vessels.

Furthermore, H.E addressed the completion of the necessary navigational equipment for the actual operation of the Canal doubling project in the small bitter lakes which included placing buoys and necessary navigational signs for the navigational safety and clearing the waterway from the dredgers, in addition to the completion of the training for the authority's pilots on the safe transit through the southern sector at Suez Canal Maritime Training and Simulation Academy.

Adm. Rabiee pointed out that the actual operation of the Suez Canal doubling project in the Small Bitter Lakes is scheduled to commence in the first quarter of 2025. This will take place as soon as the Hydrographic Division of the Egyptian Naval Forces issues the new navigational charts of the Canal, incorporating the newly duplicated section, which extends for 10 kilometers from kilometer 122 Canal marking to kilometer 132 Canal marking.

Adm. Rabiee emphasized that the Suez Canal has made significant progress in implementing its ambitious strategy to declare the Canal as a “Green Canal.” This is being achieved through the building of environmentally friendly marine units, converting several marine units to operate on biofuel, powering the pilotage stations along the Canal with clean energy, and introducing new services that support safe and sustainable disposal of marine waste.

The Chairman of the Authority also reviewed the advancements made in the Authority’s diverse marine fleet, reflecting the Suez Canal’s readiness to provide comprehensive and advanced marine services as part of its ambitious strategy to develop and enhance its marine services. This includes the addition of 27 aluminum pilot boats “Bahar” class, which are being gradually introduced to service pilot embarking and disembarking operations. Furthermore, the building of 29 multipurpose tugboats is underway, with 4 tugboats of 70-ton bollard pull capacity and 6 tugboats of 75-ton bollard pull capacity already completed. Additionally, 7 small tugboats of the “Azima” class with a bollard pull capacity ranging from 9 to 15 tons have been built, alongside the ongoing building of 10 tugboats with a 90-ton bollard pull and ASD propellers. The first two of these are set to be delivered in the first quarter of 2025, with the rest following in 2025–2026, in addition to building two salvage tugboats with a bollard pull capacity of 190 tons.

For his part, Mr. Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), expressed the organization's welcome of the return of stability to the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab region, which will lead to the gradual return of navigation through the Suez Canal normally. This, in turn, will restore stability to global supply chains, which have been severely impacted in the past period.

Dominguez added that the Suez Canal is an indispensable global corridor for international trade. He called on major shipping lines to reassess their navigation schedules in the coming period to facilitate their gradual return to the Suez Canal as security conditions in the Red Sea region start to stabilize.

The Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization stressed the support that is given by the organization to enhance navigation through the Suez Canal and short navigational routes in a way that helps in achieving the most efficient operational equation for the vessels towards the efficient consumption of fuel and the achievements of sailing for shorter distances in terms of reducing the level of the harmful carbon emissions and ensuring a sustainable work environment for the seafarers.

Dominguez expressed his positive expectations that the navigation through the Suez Canal will gradually return to the normal level given that the alternative option of navigating around the Cape of Good Hope route lacks the fundamentals of a sustainable navigational route in terms of the lack of the main infrastructure for providing various navigational services and the decline in the navigational security factors.

The IMO Secretary-General also praised the rapid developments taking place in the Suez Canal, particularly in the areas of waterway development and the modernization of navigational and logistical services. These advancements align with the IMO’s vision of delivering safe, advanced, and environmentally friendly maritime services to the maritime community, noting that the upcoming period will witness joint work with the Suez Canal to coordinate advanced training programs in the fields of combating pollution.

The visit included visiting to the Navigation Control Center and the Maritime Training and Simulation Academy, followed by a visit to the Suez Canal Museum and a review of the progress at the Suez Canal Yacht Marina.
Source: Suez Canal Authority