Egypt’s Ministry of Transport has announced that Transport Minister Kamel El-Wazir witnessed the signing of a contract to build two new state-of-the-art clean dry bulk carriers.
The agreement was made between the National Navigation Company and the Hantong Shipyard in China, one of the world’s largest shipyards specializing in the construction of clean dry bulk vessels.
The shipyard, known for building ships according to the latest designs provided by leading global maritime design houses, has built 148 ships, including 49 currently under construction with a total tonnage of 12.6 million tons.
Each of these new ships will have a capacity of 82,000 tons and is expected to be delivered by the Chinese shipyard in 2026.
These vessels will be built under the latest environmental standards and are designed to be 229 meters long, 32.26 meters wide, and have a draft of 14.5 meters.
Minister El-Wazir highlighted the significance of this day for Egyptian maritime transport, a key sector within the Ministry of Transport. He noted the substantial progress in 2023 and 2024 in revitalizing the strength of Egypt’s commercial fleet.
The launch of the “Wadi Al-Muluk” vessel, also with a capacity of 82,000 tons, was celebrated by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi raising the Egyptian flag on the ship during the presidential inauguration of the multi-purpose Tahrir Egypt Terminal in Alexandria’s port in June 2023. This was followed by the delivery of the “Wadi Al-Arish” ship in January 2024.
The signing of the contract for the two additional vessels of the same class and technology just three months later signifies a major step towards bolstering Egypt’s commercial fleet per presidential directives.
Upon the delivery of these two ships, the national commercial fleet of the company will comprise 16 Egyptian ships with a transport capacity exceeding one million tons annually, ensuring the transportation of strategic goods to the Arab Republic of Egypt, particularly wheat for the General Authority for Supply Commodities.
Furthermore, over 40% of the national commercial fleet will have been renewed within three years, a milestone that underscores the Ministry of Transport and the National Navigation Company’s commitment to achieving strategic objectives in enhancing the national commercial fleet.
This aligns with Egypt’s leading role in maritime transport in the Middle East.
Minister El-Wazir also emphasized the ministry’s goal to expand the affiliated companies’ fleet to 31 ships by 2030.
These companies include the National Navigation, Arab Bridge Maritime, Cairo Ferries, and the Egyptian Petroleum Tankers, enabling the Egyptian fleet to transport 20 million tons of strategic goods annually, including grains, petroleum, and passengers, between Egypt and other countries worldwide.
