Egypt power outage costs Suez LE100 mn in losses

Naval traffic in the Suez Canal and industrial activity came to a grinding halt on Thursday morning as Egypt's Suez governorate was hit by a massive power outage that caused estimated losses of LE100 million, Al-Ahram's Arabic news website reported.

Many parts of Egypt experienced a simultaneous blackout in the early hours of Thursday, due to what the electricity ministry described as "technical problems" in the national grid.

Egypt's Suez Canal Authority declared a state of emergency as the blackout caused a paralysis in the movement of ships through the vital waterway when communications were hit, including mobile phone coverage in the area.

A state of emergency was also declared as the blackout halted operations in 10 oil refineries and pumping stations in Suez after 6am, interrupting supplies to Cairo and Alexandria until power was restored later in the afternoon, according to Al-Ahram.