Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, received today, Saturday, a delegation of faculty members and students at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, headed by Dr. Ismail Abdel Ghaffar, President of the Academy, and accompanied by Dr. Mohi Al-Sayeh, Dean of the College of Maritime Transport, in the presence of a number of members of the board of directors and leaders of the authority And at the Authority’s Maritime Simulation and Training Center in Ismailia Governorate.
The visit comes within the framework of fruitful cooperation between the Suez Canal Authority and the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport.
At the outset, Lieutenant General Osama welcomed the attendees, and expressed his pride and appreciation for the role assigned to the Academy as one of the leading scientific edifices in the field of maritime transport in the Middle East, stressing its important role in preparing cadres fully aware of the requirements of the maritime transport market.
The authority’s president reviewed recent developments and developments at the authority, sending a message of reassurance regarding the navigation statistics of the canal during the first quarter of 2021, which recorded the crossing of 4,581 vessels, with a total net tonnage of 291 million tons.
Lieutenant General Rabie assured that the continuous development operations of the Suez Canal maintained its pioneering position to remain the first choice for major shipping lines, and during the year 2021 the canal was able to attract shipping lines that did not cross the canal before thanks to the flexible marketing policies followed by the authority, on top of these The lines are LNG tanker ships coming from the US East Coast bound for Asia.
Lieutenant General Osama Rabie stressed the authority`s permanent readiness to deal with potential emergencies, which was evident during the management of the delinquency crisis of the giant Panamanian vessel "EVER GIVEN", as the authority immediately moved through several scenarios to deal with the emergency situation with its own capabilities using the equipment of the authority from Land excavators and tugs, in addition to the introduction of dredgers in marine rescue work.
For his part, Dr. Ismail Abdel Ghaffar thanked the leadership of the authority and its staff for their great effort in overcoming the crisis of the delinquency of the giant Panamanian ship successfully, as they were as reliable as the political leadership and the Egyptian people, and provided a model for the ability of Egyptians to face various challenges.
The President of the Arab Academy affirmed his awareness as a specialist in the field of maritime transport of the difficulty of the rescue operation that the authority successfully managed, especially with the enormous dimensions of the ship and the huge cargo that was on board, in addition to the angles of delinquency.
Dr. Abdel-Ghaffar added that the recent crisis proved beyond any doubt the importance of the Suez Canal to the global community, praising the authority`s possession of an ambitious strategy for development and modernization, whether at the level of locomotives, dredgers, or projects to develop the shipping course.
At the end of the visit, Lieutenant General Osama Rabie presented a souvenir to Dr. Ismail Abdel Ghaffar, President of the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, who in turn gave Lieutenant General Osama a souvenir, followed by the delegation heading for a cruise in the New Suez Canal
