The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) is seeking to diversify sources of income by establishing logistical and maritime projects that serve the global trade movement in the region, announced Chairman Osama Rabie.
On Wednesday, Rabie discussed ways to enhance cooperation with the Italian shipping line with MESSINA CEO Ignazio Messina and Executive Director Stefano Messina.
Rabie lauded the longstanding relationship with MESSINA, which has recently seen an increase in the number of vessels transiting through the Suez Canal despite the challenges in the Red Sea region.
The chairman stressed the authority's commitment to boosting cooperation with its clients and leveraging collaboration to open new horizons through partnerships and investments, diversifying sources of income, and establishing logistics and maritime projects that serve global trade movements in the region.
Messina confirmed the company's intention to increase the number and capacities of its vessels transiting through the Suez Canal in the coming period.
The expansion aligns with the group's policy focus and plans to acquire and construct large-capacity container ships to operate on maritime routes in the Middle East and Africa.
The CEO expressed his eagerness to strengthen cooperation with the Suez Canal Authority.
He proposed joint efforts in providing logistical services to elevate the Suez Canal's leading position.
He also expressed a commitment to supporting the canal's transformation into a regional hub for maritime and logistical services in the Middle East and Africa.
MESSINA was established over a century ago. Since the 1930s, it has maintained cooperative relations with the Suez Canal Authority. One of the group's vessels was among the first to transit the canal after reopening in 1975.
On Monday, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi confirmed that Suez Canal revenues had dropped between 40 and 50 percent since the beginning of this year due to the disruption of navigation traffic in the Red Sea as a result of the Houthi attacks.
Rabie recently said that revenues had declined from $804 million recorded in January last year to $428 million during the same month this year, a drop of 46%.
The canal's revenues constitute one of Egypt's most prominent sources of foreign exchange revenues.
In the fiscal year 2022-2023, the channel generated $9.4 billion in revenues, the highest annual revenue recorded, a 35% increase compared to the previous year.
