Press Conference : Rabie and Lim discuss ways to transform the marine sector towards green fuel ( Video )

Admiral Osama Rabie, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority( SCA ) received today, Thursday, Mr. Kitak Lim, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), on the sidelines of his visit to Egypt, at the authority’s headquarters in the Guidance Building in Ismailia.

The visit aims to strengthen joint cooperation and activate the trend towards green transformation in the maritime transport sector, in addition to getting acquainted closely with the developments of the canal development strategy.

The visit included Admiral Osama Rabie and Mr. Kitak Lim, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization, inspecting the main navigation control center in the pilot building, the Maritime Simulation and Training Center, in addition to taking a cruise in the new Suez Canal to see the development achieved on the ground.

After that,Admirall Osama Rabie, Chairman of the Authority, and Mr. Kitak Lim, Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization “IMO”, went to attend the press conference, at the new Marina building in Ismailia.

At the beginning of the conference, Admiral Osama Rabie expressed his appreciation for the important role played by the International Maritime Organization ( IMO ) in the maritime transport industry, as it is the most prominent organization responsible for issuing legislation and regulations governing this vital sector.

Admiral Rabie affirmed the Suez Canal’s constant keenness to maintain the stability of global supply chains, despite the many challenges that the authority has experienced in recent years, foremost of which is the negative repercussions of the coronavirus crisis on global trade.

He pointed out that the authority adopted a package of flexible marketing policies to deal with these crises, which resulted in the SCA’s success in achieving unprecedented growth rates in terms of the number of ships, their cargo and the Canal,s revenues, pointing out that the Suez Canal achieved during the last fiscal year 2021/2022 the highest revenue.

In its history, the daily navigation statistics on Monday last week recorded the highest daily transit rate in the history of the canal, with 94 ships crossing from both directions, praising in this regard the great role played by the new Suez Canal, the guides and the movement management men in achieving such unprecedented records.

Admiral Osama Rabie,speak about the authority’s efforts to announce the Suez Canal as a “green channel”, as the authority has already started developing 16 pilot stations along the navigation channel to work with solar energy instead of traditional energy, and the authority is also working to convert the authority’s fleet of cars to work with gas instead of fuel.

He also revealed that an agreement with an international company specialized in the collection and recycling of solid and liquid waste from ships transiting the Suez Canal is imminent.

He pointed out that the beginning was from the new Suez Canal project, which succeeded in increasing the numerical and absorptive capacity of the canal, decreasing the hours of waiting and transiting ships, and increasing the navigational safety factor, and this has a tangible environmental dimension, as the new canal contributed to reducing 53.13 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. .

He added that the authority is keen to enhance its role to maintain the Suez Canal and the Canal area safe against the risks of pollution and potential oil spills, and to adhere to observing marine environmental safety standards, by having all the requirements and elements of work to combat marine pollution, both human and technical, especially at the level of advanced pollution control skimmers of all models. In addition, there is a complete simulator for training in combating pollution.

Admiral Rabie revealed the approaching announcement of the Suez Canal about new incentives for ships that use clean energy such as green hydrogen, natural gas, methanol and ammonia, which is fully in line with the general policy of the Egyptian state to move towards green policies in all fields, especially the maritime domain, where the authority recently obtained ratification Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Republic, established the first new, environmentally friendly marina in the Middle East, as well as taking effective steps in the field of digital transformation.

He added that SCA is currently working on accelerating implementation rates in the southern sector development project, which aims to double the canal in the Lesser Bitter Lakes region from km 122 to km 132, numbering the canal and expanding the canal from km 132 to km 162, and the project will increase the navigational safety factor in the southern sector by 28% and an increase in the capacity of the canal in that area by an average of 6 additional ships.

On the other hand , Mr. Kitak Lim thanked the Suez Canal Authority for providing this opportunity to visit one of the most important navigation canals in the world, noting that he was very pleased with the level of development witnessed by the navigation channel since his last visit four years ago, stressing the vital role that the canal plays towards Ensuring the sustainability of supply chains

Praising the measures taken by the canal in order to preserve the safety of navigation in the canal, especially the project to develop the southern sector, which the authority is currently implementing

Kitak Lim emphesized the efforts made by SCA to encourage green transformation and carbon neutrality, and thanked, in this regard, Egypt’s efforts and organization of the “COP 27” climate conference to support ways to preserve the environment, especially the marine environment.

He pointed out that the climate conference is receiving attention from the whole world, which illustrates the importance of climate issues and decarbonization efforts, which are very popular in many global institutions, especially the Suez Canal.

He added that the Suez Canal is not only concerned with environmental measures, but is also keen to raise awareness of the importance of the maritime sector and the pivotal role of seafarers and workers in this sector, as it had an important role in supporting the maritime transport industry.

He revealed that IMO has two universities under its umbrella to serve the maritime sector and teach everything related to the development process and marine sustainability, and the organization owns between 6 to 10 technical offices around the world, noting that the organization decided to establish a regional office for the eastern region. Middle East and will be based in Egypt.

Kitak Lim stressed the importance of maritime transport in the field of transporting goods, which places additional responsibilities on the Suez Canal, as it is the most important channel and path in the world when talking about maritime transport, in motivating ships to switch towards green fuel, pointing out that he felt that by himself from Admiral Osama Rabie, who promised a package of facilities for this type of ship.

He added that the International Maritime Organization is adopting a strategy aimed at reducing the rate of reliance on traditional fuels in ships, and the organization is also interested in technical measures to accelerate the process of transition towards green fuels.

At the conclusion of his speech, Kitak Lim urged institutions and entities operating in the maritime transport sector to spend more investments in clean fuel research,

Stressing that one of the most important factors attracting ships to this fuel is to reduce the gap between the costs and prices of fossil fuels and their green counterpart, Noting that the economic dimension is very important in motivating companies to go green.