Lt. Gen. \ Kamel Al-Wazir, Minister of Transport, pointed out during his visit to a subsidiary to the Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport that, since undertaking the Ministry of Transport, he pledged to President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and to The Egyptians to lead the organizations and companies of the Ministry of Transport to the forefront of State institutions, and that this will be achieved with the help of its nationals, hence was the attentiveness to the human element which is considered one of the main pillars in the development of the transportation system. He stressed the need to attend to the morale of the workers.

He emphasized the importance of container handling companies «Damietta – Alexandria – Port Said» exerting all efforts in the field of handling containers and cargoes, transporting and storing them, carrying on containers’ repair and maintenance, managing and operating multi-purpose terminals in various ports, while enacting a number of procedures and mechanisms for cargo transport companies affiliated to the Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport to create strong entities capable of competing with private sector companies. He also called on the constant enhancement of shipping agent companies to provide the best levels of service in the field of internal and external tourism, booking spaces and shipping of cargoes on foreign vessels, container transport, custom clearance, cargo handling and storage within customs areas, and continuous progression of The General Egyptian Warehouses Company and Stevedoring companies; supplying them with state-of-the-art equipment.

The Minister explained that a comprehensive plan is being implemented to restore the potency of the commercial fleet, as new vessels are being purchased for the maritime shipping companies affiliated with the Ministry of Transport, including the National Navigation Company, as the number of commercial vessels within the National Navigation Company has reached 13 vessels (12 bulk vessels – 1 container ship). The last of the purchased vessels to reinforce the company’s fleet was “Wadi El Melouk”.

He added, “We are racing against time to launch the commercial fleet, to contribute effectively to the transport of Egypt’s foreign trade, and to make use of the volume of trade with Europe and Eastern Africa by operating Egyptian vessels on shipping lines to Europe passing through North Africa.”