Egypt in a race against time to restore merchant fleet
Egypt’s Transportation Ministry is currently working on restoring the Egyptian merchant fleet under the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Minister Kamel El Wazir revealed on Monday.
“We are racing against time to launch the Egyptian merchant fleet to actively contribute to Egypt's foreign trade and benefit from the volume of trade with Europe and East Africa, by establishing operation lines for Egyptian ships passing through North Africa and then heading to Europe, in addition to other lines heading to East Africa” he added.
This came during the Transporartion Minister’s visit to central workshops held by East Delta Travel Company to meet with employees from the Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport and its subsidiaries, to discuss the latest updates in the ministry.
Additionally, the minister disclosed that maritime navigation firms affiliated with the ministry have purchased new vessels to reach the set objective, such as the National Navigation Company which has purchased Wadi El Melouk ship as the last addition to its fleet – now incorporating a total of 13 ships -
Moreover, the minister emphasized the importance of the container handling companies (Damietta-Alexandria-Port Said) exerting all efforts in fields of trading containers and goods, transporting them to the designated annexes, constantly carrying out repair and maintenance work for containers, along with managing and operating multi-purpose terminals in various ports, in order to create strong entities capable of competing with the private sector.
The Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport encompasses 19 entities, three containers and goods handling companies (Alexandria Container And Cargo Handling Company, Port Said Container and Cargo Handling Company, Damietta Container And Cargo Handling Company), four shipping agencies (Canal Shipping Agencies, Abou Simbel & Thebes shipping agencies, Amon Shipping Agency, Memphis Shipping Agency), three passenger transportation companies, four cargo transportation companies, as well as The General Egyptian Warehouses Company, The Egyptian Marine Supply and Contracting Company, United Arab Shipping Company and Suez Mechanical Stevedoring Company.