Adm. Rabiee: The Suez Canal Reintroduced as a Digital Logistics System

• Adm. Rabiee: "The Suez Canal has reintroduced itself as an advanced logistical system adopting digital transformation"
• The Suez Canal has become a global symbol of resilience in the face of extreme challenges.

1315 transiting vessels at a total tonnage of 56 million tons, generating revenues of $449 million since the beginning of the year.
Adm. Ossama Rabiee, Chairman and Managing Director of the Suez Canal Authority, participated today in the opening events of the annual International Maritime Transport and Logistics Conference (MARLOG) in its fifteenth edition, which is organized by the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, under the auspices of the League of Arab States in cooperation with the Ministry of Transport, during the period from 8 - 10 February of this year.

The event was attended by H.E. Lt. Gen. Kamel Al-Wazir, Deputy Prime Minister for industrial development, Minister of Transport and Industry, in addition to H.E. Vice Admiral Ahmed Khaled Hassan, Governor of Alexandria, Prof. Nedal Katamine, Jordanian Minister of Transport, Ms. Marina Hadjimanolis, Shipping Deputy Minister of Cyprus, Mr. Walid Gamal El-Din, Chairman of the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), Prof. Dr. Ismail Abdel Ghafar Ismail, President of the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Prof. Dr. Akram Elselmy, Head of MARLOG's organizing committee, and a galaxy of the maritime transport industry's key players on the Arab, regional and international levels.

In his speech, Adm. Rabiee expressed his appreciation of role palyed by MARLOG on the scientific and applied levels. The conference is held this year under the important title of "Smart & Resilient Logistics Corridors", which is a true reflection of the Suez Canal's reality which has become a global symbol of resilience in the face of extreme challenges.

H.E. highlighted that the Suez Canal has demonstrated within the past few years its ability to face various economic and geopolitical challenges till it became an icon for Egyptian will, underscoring in that same regard that the SCA has succeeded in turning adversities into opportunities over the successive crises it faced; like the COVID_19 pandemic, the grounding incident of EVER GIVEN, followed by the Russian-Ukrainian war and the Navigation crisis in the Red Sea and Bab El-Mandab.

Adm. Rabiee then expanded on the Red Sea crisis which has proven beyond the shadow of doubt the Suez Canal's tenacity when it was truly put through a test and was gravely impacted, then the final quarter of 2025 witnessed the beginning of the relative recovery after the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit succeeded in reaching a ceasefire in Gaza and restored stability to the region.

The Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority indicated that navigation statistics of the first half of the fiscal year (2025/2026) showed relative improvement, recording a 5.8% increase in the number of transiting vessels and a 16% rise in net tonnage. This positively impacted revenues, increasing them by 18.5%, compared to the same period of the fiscal year 2024/2025.

H. E. added that since the beginning of 2026, 1,315 vessels have transited through the Canal with a total net tonnage of 56 million tons, generating revenues of $449 million. This compares to 1,243 vessels transiting during the same period last year, with a total net tonnage of 47 million tons and revenues of $368 million.

Adm. Rabiee also reviewed the administrative developments undertaken by the Suez Canal Authority as part of its 2030 Development Strategy, which focuses on training and empowering talented young staff members through advanced training programs, upgrading vocational training centers, and establishing Innovation and Excellence Center to offer training programs across various disciplines, as well as the development of the Maritime Training and Simulation Academy.

H. E. then discussed the efforts to develop the Suez Canal waterway, which resulted in the completion and commissioning of the Southern Sector Development Project, which increased navigational safety in the Canal by 28%. This came in parallel with the development and modernization of existing navigational services and the introduction of new ones, most notably crew change, water ambulance and maritime salvage services. This was clearly demonstrated during the salvage operation of the crew of the vessel "FENER" at the entrance of Port Said.

The Chairman of the Authority pointed out that the Suez Canal has reintroduced itself as an advanced logistical system adopting comprehensive digital transformation in all its operations. H. E. emphasized that the Authority's shipyards and affiliated companies have witnessed a significant leap in the building of maritime units, as part of the ambitious strategy to localize the maritime industry under the slogan "Made in Egypt," which has been culminated in the signing of a contract to export two tugboats to the Italian company “NERI.”

At the conclusion of the opening session, Adm. Ossama Rabiee visited the pavilion of the Authority's affiliated companies and shipyards at the international maritime technology exhibition, Mar Tech 2026.

The exhibition, held on the sidelines of Marlog Conference, features wide participation from local and international companies in the fields of port services, maritime transport, oil, and maritime information systems. It is considered one of the largest specialized exhibitions in the fields of port services, maritime transport, information technology, and communication in Egypt and the Middle East.