Home
FacebookTwitterSearchMenu
  • Subscribe
  • Subscribe
  • News
  • Features
  • Knowledge Library
  • Columns
  • Customs
  • Jobs
  • Directory
  • FX Rates
  • Categories
    • Categories
    • Africa
    • Air Freight
    • BEE
    • Border Beat
    • COVID-19
    • Crime
    • Customs
    • Domestic
    • Duty Calls
    • Economy
    • Employment
    • Energy/Fuel
    • Events
    • Freight & Trading Weekly
    • Imports and Exports
    • Infrastructure
    • International
    • Logistics
    • Other
    • People
    • Road/Rail Freight
    • Sea Freight
    • Skills & Training
    • Social Development
    • Sustainability
    • Technology
    • Trade/Investment
    • Webinars
  • Contact us
    • Contact us
    • About Us
    • Advertise
    • Send us news
    • Editorial Guidelines
Sea Freight

MSC meets with Suez Canal Authority

19 Mar 2025 - by Staff reporter
Suez Canal Authority chairman, Ossama Rabiee, discusses the impact of developments in the Red Sea region. 
0 Comments

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • E-mail
  • Print

Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) CEO, Soren Toft, said the shipping line was awaiting the full restoration of stability in the Red Sea before redirecting its vessels to transit the region.

Toft was speaking during a video conference with Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chairman, Ossama Rabiee, that focused on the situation in the Red Sea.

Several SCA board members and a delegation of MSC Egypt representatives, including MSC Egypt CEO, Tarek Fahmy, Business Development Manager, Karim Fahmy, and Operation Manager, Ezz Eldeen Salem, attended the meeting.

The delegates discussed developments in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab region and their impact on global navigation, and reviewed the navigation policies of MSC shipping line through the Suez Canal.

Toft explained that transiting the Cape of Good Hope – as major shipping lines have been forced to do to avoid conflict in the Red Sea region over the past two years – was not the preferred route for the company. 

“We do not prefer navigating around the Cape of Good Hope, and we are waiting for the situation to stabilise to return to transit through the Suez Canal.”

He said the Cape of Good Hope route lacked navigational services, which meant that vessels navigating it must be far more cautious when transiting the route.

Rabiee said the authority was keen to effectively communicate with its clients and  to meet their requirements to confront the challenges facing them.

He said the authority had not halted its navigational and maritime services since the start of the Red Sea security crisis and that it had introduced a new package of services, including maritime salvage, ship repair and maintenance, crew change, and water ambulance services.

Rabiee said the SCA-affiliated Port-Said Shipyard had provided ship maintenance and repair services to MSC Rossella III on board the floating dock, Fakhr Al-Qanah.

The shipyard is also replacing the bulbous bow of the container ship MSC Renaissance. The new bow was designed in-house according to specifications to reduce fuel consumption and lower carbon emissions, a first for an Egyptian shipyard.

Rabiee added that the authority was continuing with its ambitious strategy to further develop the waterway.

He said the Southern Sector Development Project, which increased navigational safety for larger vessels while transiting the canal, had been completed and was now operational.

Sign up to our mailing list and get daily news headlines and weekly features directly to your inbox free.
Subscribe to receive print copies of Freight News Features to your door.

Arrest of Molefe and others welcomed, but long-overdue – Saftu

Africa
Economy

The workers at UCW in Nigel – a local manufacturer with proven capacity – were the primary victims, Saftu said in a statement following the arrests.

Yesterday
0 Comments

Sharp increase in box losses at sea

Logistics
Sea Freight

A recurrence of last year’s losses off the Cape of Good Hope has not yet been observed in 2025.

Yesterday
0 Comments

Lack of rail interoperability stymies progress

Road/Rail Freight

“The AU has called for an integrated transport sector with world-class infrastructure that crisscrosses the continent." – Mesela Nhlapo, CEO, Aria.

Yesterday
0 Comments

DRC-Rwandan peace accord bodes well for Lobito Corridor

Logistics

The DRC and Rwanda have lapsed into a recurring internecine struggle in the Lake Kivu area.

Yesterday
0 Comments

Is the writing on the wall for the North-South Corridor?

Infrastructure
Road/Rail Freight

The switch from Beitbridge to the route via Botswana has exposed glaring infrastructural issues.

Yesterday
0 Comments

Shipping alliances and MSC dominate over 80% of container market

Logistics

Alliances offer operational efficiencies, but there are concerns about service quality, competition, and freight rate volatility.

Yesterday
0 Comments

Trade tension between the US and Canada increases over tech tax (*)

Imports and Exports
Trade/Investment

Some $750 billion in annual trade both ways could be impacted.

Yesterday
0 Comments

Civil contractors' confidence takes a knock

Logistics

Insufficient demand for projects is dampening the mood among the sector’s business leaders.

Yesterday
0 Comments

Chrome tax for ore exports a bad idea – trade consultant

Imports and Exports

The aim is to protect local ferrochrome producers, preserve jobs and boost industrialisation.

27 Jun 2025
0 Comments

The North-South Corridor – a copper stopper for logistics

Logistics
27 Jun 2025
0 Comments

Cabinet approves plan for ferrochrome export tariff

Economy
Imports and Exports

The government is intervening to stem the sector’s protracted decline, which has led to smelter closures and job losses.

27 Jun 2025
0 Comments

Vessels use message distortion to avoid detection

Sea Freight

These broadcasts have been observed since hostilities began between Israel and Iran.

27 Jun 2025
0 Comments
  • More

FeatureClick to view

Road & Rail 27 June 2025

Border Beat

Forum tightens net against border corruption
25 Jun 2025
Police clamp down on cross-border crime
17 Jun 2025
Zim's anti-smuggling measures delay legitimate freight operations
06 Jun 2025
More

Poll

Has South Africa's ports turned the corner?

Featured Jobs

New

Sea Export Controller (In-house)

Tiger Recruitment
East Rand
30 Jun
New

Export Controller

Lee Botti & Associates
Durban
30 Jun
More Jobs
  • © Now Media
  • Privacy Policy
  • Freight News RSS
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Send us news
  • Contact us