What are the developments needed by the Suez Canal to avoid the repetition of the "Ever Given" accident?Within just six days, the giant carrier of the giant "Ever Given" in the Suez Canal Egypt cost about 90 million dollars of revenues, according to the head of the Suez Canal Authority, Osama Rabie.Rabie recently announced that the authority is studying the expansion of the southern side of the channel, where the giant container carrier dismissed.We prompted this to ask experts in the field of logistical services about the other infrastructure developments that the Suez Canal needs to avoid repeating the accident..
What happened to the already giant carrier?Initial reports indicated that the 400 -meter "Ever Given" ship was hit by a dirt storm on March 23, causing its delinquency to collide with the canal and close it to the canal..The body used the cracks to remove the sand from the bottom of the ship and clay from the side of the canal, and with the tide rising the ship returned to the float recently after six days.The rescue and re -floating of this type of ship is a complex process that requires specialized equipment and perhaps a lot of time, according to the World Economic Forum..The Wall Street Journal reported that the accident caused the disruption of more than 420 ships in the Red and Mediterranean Bahrain, which cost the global economy more than 9 billion dollars a day, with the repercussions of the crisis until next summer..Official investigations are still ongoing to determine exactly what happened on the ship, and is expected to end by the end of the week.Meanwhile, the Suez Canal Authority demanded the company that owns the ship to pay a compensation of 900 million dollars, and obtained a ruling from the Ismailia Economic Court to put it under reservation until the amount was paid, according to Al -Shorouk newspaper..
The infrastructure of the channel has witnessed developments in the past few years, including the expansion of sidewalks and ports and the establishment of transit stations, according to the head of the Alexandria Navigation Chamber, Mohamed Moselhi, for Enterprise.The improvements led to an increase in the transit rates of the channel, which reached 4.8 million ships in 2020 compared to 4.4 million in 2019, according to the port of ports performance indicators issued by the Ministry of Transport.Rabie recently said that the Suez Canal Authority is looking to increase the number of ships that cross daily to 95 ships by 2030.Moselhi believes that the construction of container stations and discharge docks will increase the circulation of goods in all Egyptian ports, not only the Suez Canal.However, more steps must be taken to avoid another disorder similar to "Ever Given", according to the Vice President of the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Mohamed Dawood for Enterprise.
Expanding the darkening work next to the channel: The authority has worked to implement many darkening work in the past years during the establishment of the new Suez Canal, as David told us, explaining that despite the difficulty of repeating another similar accident soon, the darkening work must continue to expand the shipping path.What is meant by duplicity is the process of removing deposits from the bottom of the canal and its edges, such as silt and sand, which is a necessary routine because it increases the depth of the canal, which allows the safe passage of tankers and huge ships.The depth of the Suez Canal today is 24 meters, which is enough to cross the giant ships.However, David explains that more duplicate work should be carried out on the edges of the navigator to avoid the repetition of the accident.
Buy more Qatar boats and high -capacity equipment: In the Ever Given crisis, it took a few days until the Italian and Dutch country boats reach to help deal with the situation.Ahmed Mustafa, a member of the International Maritime Transport Division of the Chamber of Commerce in Alexandria, says that some then suggested the necessity of updating the authority’s equipment and expanding them in order to be able to deal with these positions faster and not to rely on the arrival of rented boats.Besides, equipment to unload Ever Given's loads was not available, according to Michael Kingson, the UN International Maritime Adviser, in a statement to Reuters..President Abdel -Fattah El -Sisi pledged to buy new equipment and boats for the channel and demanded the ministers to approve any needs of the authority.The authority also requested the purchase of new locomotives, bulldozers and cranes.
Train line: Some suggest expansion of the railway infrastructure that extends along the canal waterway to reduce pressure on it.Mustafa says that the line that already between the Sokhna and Suez ports to Alexandria needs to be expanded, and then it can be rented to private companies that provide the necessary vehicles to transport goods, which will reduce the cost to the government.Given the high oil prices since the Ever Given crisis, small shipping companies may find the channel crossing fees very high.The presence of a competent train line will allow the transport of its goods to Alexandria via the trains, which is much less expensive, says Mustafa.The line will also reduce the pressure on the infrastructure of the channel. The state is leveled by rewarding returns.
More safety procedures: Although the past years have witnessed the implementation of more safety measures in the channel, there is a need for more additional measures, according to the owner of the Saratoga Maritime Transport Agency, Ahmed Al -Saeed, in a statement to Enterprise.He added that these measures can include urging ships to close their devices when entering and relying on the authority's driving boats to drive ships via the channel.
There is also a need for more cybersecurity procedures.The channel's information and communication technology systems are vulnerable to penetration and electronic attacks, according to Robert Greenway, former director of Middle East and North Africa in the US National Security Council, in an article on Bloomberg.Greenway refers to the recent electronic attacks on industrial control systems, adding that the channel is subject to a similar assault due to its "antique" information technology structure.
Is global shipping movement growing at a greater pace than our infrastructure?Internationally, about 11 billion tons of goods are being transported annually by ships, which represents 1.5 tons per person according to the current world population, according to the international shipping room.To maintain their competitiveness, companies are working to increase their sizes of their ships to carry more goods.The World Economic Forum said, "The incident (Ever Given)..It highlights the increase in the size, complexity of ships and their continued dependence on the narrow shipping methods that were built in a previous era, which is increasingly fraught with risks..In addition, the question remains whether the ports are equipped to deal with this amount of emptying the goods, which directs attention to efforts to develop the infrastructure of the Suez Canal, if it happens, and will it be enough to reassure these global concerns.
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