On the sidelines of his official visit to Egypt.
Adm. Rabiee meets with Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction to discuss ways of joint cooperation.
Adm. Rabiee: "The Suez Canal's traffic statistics are recently witnessing a relative recovery... The Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit is a key link in restoring stability in the Red Sea region."
Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General: "The Suez Canal is an exceptional engineering project and a vital artery for the Egyptian and global economies."
Adm. Ossama Rabiee, Chairman and Managing Director of the Suez Canal Authority, received Mr. Kamal Kishore, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, to discuss ways of joint cooperation and provide a closer look at the Suez Canal's maritime safety measures.
The meeting, held at Al-Irshad building in Ismailia, was attended by Adm. Ashraf Atwa, Deputy Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, and Dr. Raidan Al-Saqqaf, Deputy Chief of UNDRR's Regional Office for Arab States.
At the outset of the meeting, Adm. Rabiee expressed his appreciation of the United Nations and its affiliated bodies in supporting efforts aiming to achieve peace, prosperity and development.
H.E. underscored that the Canal’s traffic statistics are recently witnessing a relative recovery; emphasizing that the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit was a vital link in restoring stability in the Red Sea region which is positively reflected in the gradual return of a number of the major shipping lines to navigating through the region once more.
During the meeting, H.E. demonstrated the measures and preparations for crisis management, and the process of handling bad weather.
Adm. Rabiee also touched on the SCA's efforts in developing and upgrading its maritime fleet by adding new units at the highest technological standards to keep up with operational requirements in the Suez Canal, as well as elevating the level of navigational and logistical services, and increasing navigational safety for vessels transiting through the Canal.
On this note, H.E. stressed the SCA's commitment to raising its navigational safety through continuing its infrastructure development projects; most notably the southern sector development project which has successfully increased the navigational safety factor by 28%, that is concurrently with giving more attention to its human capital and qualifying them in various maritime fields through its maritime training academies.
On his part, Mr. Kamal Kishore, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, highlighted that the Suez Canal is not merely an infrastructure project, but an exceptional engineering project that successfully presents a sustainable route for global trade, and serves as a vital artery for the Egyptian and global economies.
Mr. Kishore expressed his aspiration that the state of peace and stability in the Red Sea region endures to ensure the return of maritime navigation through Bab El-Mandab and the Suez Canal back to normal in the near future.
H.E. lauded the SCA's preemptive measures in handling bad weather through issuing forecasts and warnings in the cases of sand storms, high swell, heavy rainfall, fog and other various meteorological conditions.
Mr. Kishore also commended the SCA's keenness on investing in monitoring and safekeeping the waterway to maintain its efficiency, as well as its expanded scope of navigational services that represent an added value in the system of maritime and logistical services provided to Canal-transiting vessels.
The visit included a Canal tour to get a firsthand experience of the achievement and its magnitude.