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.
