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Egypt to build national bulk carrier fleet under Suez Canal joint venture

Submitted by Seaweblive on Tue, 04/26/2022 - 19:21
Suez Canal joint venture

Kamel al-Wazir, Minister of Transport, and Osama Rabie, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, met on Monday to examine the possibility of collaborating on the development of an Egyptian fleet of bulk carriers and auxiliary vessels.

The summit is being held in response to President Abdel Fatah al-directions Sisi's to establish an Egyptian fleet for the transportation of imports and exports. During the meeting, participants were given a tour of the Suez Shipbuilding Company, which was established in 1866.

On this front, both parties agreed on the formation of a joint task force to prepare a feasibility analysis as well as a timeline outlining the costs, duties of each party, and specialisations of those involved.

At one point, it was planned that the Red Sea Ports Authority and the private sector would collaborate on the project, with a global consulting firm serving as the project's supervisor.

As part of a similar discussion, Wazir stressed the significance of creating synergy between the Ministry of Transportation and the Suez Canal Authority in order to build ships, tugboats, and other types of vessels.

Rabie, on the other hand, pointed out that the Suez Shipbuilding Company has been implementing a development plan that expands its operations beyond merely manufacturing ships to include vessel maintenance underwater and capitalising on its assets to form partnerships with international corporations.

A floating dock with a length and width of 302 metres and 55 metres, respectively, according to the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, makes the corporation one of the world's largest floating dock operators. The dock is equipped with large tugboats with a combined capacity of 55,000 tonnes.

In addition, the corporation owns a dry dock, which is now being used to maintain the service vessel "CBC ONE," which is owned by the Misr Petroleum Company. Two comparable vessels will also be maintained by the dock, which is meant to give such services to medium-sized ships in the near future.

The dry dock's dimensions are 140 metres in length and 30 metres in width, and it has a tugging capacity of 8,000 tonnes and can accommodate two tugs.

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