Cap; Gamal Fikry to ( Leaders ) : I believe the Kingdom has the potential to be a strategical regional player on the trade from East to West Considering the geographical location
No doubt in my mind that Neon City will be a fantastic business success story once developed
Interview by Magdy Sadek ( Saudi magazine Leaders )
Cap Gamal FeKry is a Master Marine and has nearly 42 years of experience in the shipping industry he was appointed as Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board Directions in Feb2014 after having served 3 years as Managing Director of Red Sea Marine Management DMCC ( RSMM) in Debi, one of Bihar International Co .LTD Companies ( formerly Known as Bakri Group of companies which is Saud- based and involved in Shipping
Gamal was Global Manager ship Vetting then Manger Vetting and Clearance at British Petroleum Shipping in London
A long trip of more than forty years as a Global marine expert
He stressed via an interview to “Leaders “
The Kingdom has the potential to be a strategical regional player on the trade from East to West Considering the geographical location
Adding: the Neon City will be a fantastic business success story once developed
That is an interview How did you get into the maritime Transportation field: How did your career path lead to those positions?
My involvement in maritime transportations evolved from my career
as a sea-going officer, were following my joining the Arab Maritime
Transport Academy (AMTA), currently knowing as Arab Academy for Science,
Technology & Maritime Transport, in 1975, then joined Kuwait Oil Tanker
Company (KOTC) as Marine Cadet 1976.
Progressed with KOTC from 1976 as sea staff to Master tankers ULCC, Products, and LPG
Promoted to Superintendent Fleet Personnel/Training in 1992; established a national cadre training department Superintendent Cadets Training,
Promoted to Superintendent Fleet Operations (LPG & Products) and Crude
Promoted to Fleet Manager for the LPG and Products Fleet, usually 18 vessels but managed the entire fleet of 46 years
He added: The natural progression of a Master Mariner’s career, will direct an individual to use own expertise and set of skills to Marine Superintend, the
head of Fleet of Liquefied Gas Carriers
And products fleet, then a Fleet Manager, then A maritime Assurance
Regional Manager Middle East for British Petroleum (BP), during which time I was seconded to the Supreme Petroleum Council of Abu Dhabi as a Marine Risk Manager for 3 years
Upon returning to BP London, This has led to my role as Global Vetting Manager for BP in London
Fekry emphasized in his Interview: He was later headhunted by the Saudis to manage their fleet hence my role as
Managing Director of the shipping company ( Red Sea Marine Management) in
Dubai, then Chief Executive Officer of the same organization.
Can you briefly tell us about that? And what are its main characteristics and challenges in your career path? My career path had had many Challenges, to say the least, every stage of my career has its own challenge and achievement. To start with the nature of the sea-going career requires continuous traveling and prolonged periods of being away from home and family.
!There was no family – work-life balance at all
It felt like you were visiting home when on leave in-between long
trips away, that to an extent made me very independent, but also later,
relying on the wife to bring up kids much more than one would like? Whilst
grateful and thanks to God that worked well in my case, It was the dearest
price one had to pay to achieve such career progression and success. That
aside, the challenge of dealing with different cultures, races, and
religions, whilst adding great diversity to my prospects, has always been
a great but enjoyable challenge.
Kingdom’s great strides at the Maritime Field
How do you see the Kingdom’s great strides at the Maritime Field and the level of development its main ports?
Saudi Arabia is one of the most distinguished ME countries when it comes
to the Oil & Gas upstream industry and we have all known the Kingdome to be
a pioneer in this field since 1934,
The Aramco success story is evidence of that fact, However , when it comes
to Marine Transpiration and ports, the Kingdom falls behind a great dear when
compared to Kuwait or UAE.
The Marine Transpiration field and its capabilities have been neglected for a
a long time until recently H.H the Crown Prince gave some directive to develop
the marine field, except that Corvid -19 slowed the process and put plans on
hold.
I believe the Kingdom has the potential to be a strategical regional
player on the trade from East to west considering the geographical location
and the ability to contribute and serve the shipping lanes leading to
Arabian Gulf or Suez Canal. No doubt in my mind that Neon City will be a
fantastic business success story once developed.
The Maritime Transport backbone are ship and offshore unities
and The Kingdome should look into shipbuilding facilities much faster than the current slow program. Ports must be developed separately or isolated if adjacent to Hydrocarbon productions platforms to facilitate easy and practical
access to ships and services.
IN Light of the Kingdom’s 2030 vision, can we say that the kingdom with its geostrategic position, is a global logistic point?
A very good question and we may have answered that in previous points
but the answer, YES, Of course, we all confident that under the leadership
of H.H the Crown Prince, the Kingdome is heading fast to its natural
position of being a strategic global logistic point. Specifically after the
announcement of the largest Free Zone area adjacent to the Suez Canal and its
collaboration with the neighbor country Egypt. The development of the COSWAY’s with Egypt will generate another route that establishes the Kingdom as a Strategic Logistic Hub
Can Egypt and Saudi Arabia play a centralization point through collaboration among their ports, experts, maritime cadres? How can this happen?
Without a doubt, world trade is heading towards centralization and
merger to achieve cost-effectiveness efficient operations, Egypt and the
kingdom by virtue of their geographical location and blessed by the
availability of the Suez Canal and the role it plays in the international
trade, with construed a major role as a centralized point of logistics.
AS mention earlier the development of the COSWAY’s will also provide a land
route trade and distribution to the whole of Africa and the shortest route
to Europe.
There need to be aligned strategies between the two countries in the maritime fields, Egypt, for example, has a long history and expertise in Ship
Building, The Alexandria Ship Building facility, which is backed by
a significant number of qualified skilled manpower is clearly evidence that the
Kingdom should take advantage of and put a system in place to use that in
addition to the Far East expertise in shipbuilding.
There are many more fields and examples that we can discuss but this should be addressed separately
What’s your vision for Egypt Ports and also Saudi ports for the next decade:
The short answer is very optimistic and very confident that both countries
current leadership have shown serious commitments and determination to
develop their countries infrastructure and modernize its ports.
I can tell you that once the covid -19 crisis is over the Kingdom will spearhead the industry in its maritime transportation modernization
Egypt has already started that process and numerous ports are currently undergoing significant development
and modernization plans, in addition to adding new ports and providing the
necessary power and road networks to serve them
National assets such as LNG, oil
What are the main priorities for Egyptian Maritime transportation in that respect?
Once Egypt political leadership complete its current development plans
for expanding, modernization, and building of new ports and infrastructure, the main priority will be to establish a National Fleet of vessels and offshore unities to serve and support the country maritime commercial obligation, especially Egypt must establish a National Fleet of Natural Gas Carriers vessels and Tankers Its to be able to trade its LNG, commodities in an efficient
manner and benefit from the High Freight
Also, the National assets such as LNG, oil or other offshore platforms must be served by national Offshore units, thus provide robust business development & continuity plans as well as good national security around those assets
There are a lot of development that Egypt requires in the Maritime
Transportation but am confident that Egypt current leadership and policy
making have already addressed these challenges and have taken them into
account but it will be time-constrained.
