El-Sisi reviews Suez Canal rates and marine unit manufacturing

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi reviewed on Sunday navigation rates through the Suez Canal during FY2025/26 and progress on building new marine units, including tugboats, fishing vessels and river transport boats, as Egypt pushes to expand local shipbuilding alongside a recovery in canal traffic.

During a meeting with Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chairman Osama Rabie and South Red Sea Shipyard chairman Mostafa El-Degwaishi, El-Sisi stressed the need to localise the manufacturing of marine units to meet demand at the canal, Egyptian ports and the river transport sector, while expanding into export markets in partnership with the private sector, according to presidential spokesman Mohamed El-Shennawy.

The meeting reviewed progress on building tugboats, deep-sea fishing vessels, river transport boats and tourist launches, as well as preparations for two fibreglass factories at the Suez Canal Company for Modern Boats, a joint venture between the SCA and the South Red Sea Shipyard. Officials said work had been completed on the hulls of three fibreglass tourist launches, and the meeting also reviewed a series of 12 Rizq deep-sea fishing vessels and the construction of a 60-passenger electric river bus for Cairo Governorate. El-Sisi followed the construction of Azm tugboats, each with a bollard pull of 90 tonnes, and instructed officials to adhere to quality, safety and project deadlines while continuing to train technical workers.

The review comes as the SCA seeks to build on a recovery in navigation traffic while expanding revenue beyond transit fees through local maritime manufacturing. Suez Canal revenues rose 18.5% in the first half of the 2025/26 fiscal year, while the number of transiting vessels increased by 5.8% and net tonnage rose 16% compared with the same period a year earlier. Rabie has attributed the rebound to improving security conditions in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the wider Red Sea.