ISMAILIA: Citing continued pressure from the global financial crisis, Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Chairman Ahmed Aly Fadel said Tuesday that the authority will not raise transit fees. At a conference Tuesday, Fadel said circular No.1/2007 would stay in force, keeping the Suez Canal transit dues for 2010 at the same levels for the second consecutive year. Fadel cited figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) regarding the persistent effects of the financial crisis on world economic growth rates, offering figures comparing canal traffic and revenues from 2008 to 2009. From a daily average of 58 vessels transiting the canal in 2008, the number decreased by almost 20 percent to 47 vessels per day. Egypt's canal revenues similarly fell by around 20 percent, dropping from $5381.8 million in 2008 to $4291.0 in 2009. Fadel expects revenues to grow by around 2.4 percent in 2010. Although 2010 is expected to see rates return to pre-crisis levels for most sectors across the world, 2009 saw a 12.2 percent drop in global trade. In what he termed "adding insult to injury, the stagnation in trade followed a boom in ship building, to the effect that the balance between the supply of shipping vessels and demand for goods shipped, will not recover before 2013. However, Fadel drew attention to the fact that the boom in trade that preceded the crisis, and to examine only the 2008 figures as compared to 2009 was to inflate the real impact of the slowdown. Although acknowledging that the construction had been completed in November, Fadel announced officially that the canal had been dredged to 66 feet, previously 62 feet deep. The extra four feet allow the canal to accommodate vessels weighing 240,000 tons when fully loaded. This will allow the passage of 66.6 percent of all crude oil vessels, 96.8 percent of bulk carriers, and 100 percent of all other kinds of vessels through the canal. Fadel proudly stated that the dredging was carried out by the SCA's own and no foreign contractors were commissioned to assist with the project. He prickled at the suggestion that the construction was completed late. Improvement of the communication and navigation systems in the canal are ongoing, he said, including the use of cameras equipped with lasers to monitor all vessels in the canal waterway. Fadel addressed the potential of creating bunkering facilities at the north and south ends of the canal, explaining that companies at Port Said and at Sokhna were planning to establish facilities. The possible construction of an additional tunnel under the canal evoked Fadel's support, but he stressed that the SCA would "need to set the conditions of construction in order to ensure that future plans to further increase the canal's capacity would not be affected. Regarding pollution in Lake Timsah, Fadel expressed readiness to continue cleaning efforts, but demanded cooperation from industrial polluters in Ismailia and the Egyptian authorities in order to prevent further contamination. Concerns were raised over the effect of pirates off the coast of Somalia, as well as Al-Qaeda's rising threat in Yemen. To both questions, Fadel pointed out that the global economic crisis was a far more worrisome subject. "The crisis affected 90 percent of trade, piracy affected 10 percent, he intoned. As to the possibility of Al-Qaeda carrying out activities to the detriment of trade, particularly in the Gulf of Aden, he expressed near nonchalance. "Al-Qaeda or anything else can create unrest of course but it cannot control any country. Like any act of terrorism, after a short time it diminishes. This Al-Qaeda cannot control [Yemen] because all Arab countries lying along the Red Sea represent protection for Yemen, pan-Arab protection for Yemen. Other questions touched on national pride. The SCA's use of special drawing rights (SDR), implemented during the tenure of US president Nixon, to regulate fluctuations in currency, drew a smile form Fadel. "Why do we not use Egyptian pounds? I can understand that this is sentimental, but when you produce less than you import, you always need hard currency. [Use of the Egyptian pound] can be applied once Egypt is self sufficient. The fate of a statue of Delipsos was also a topic of debate. Fadel pointed out that the decision to display the statue or not, considered by some to represent Egypt's colonial past, was the decision of the residents of Port Said.
