Indian shippers cheer as crisis in Egypt ends

Container movement resumes at Egyptian ports

The Indian ship liners have heaved a sigh of relief with the political crisis in Egypt coming to an end as the container movement through Egyptian ports is gradually limping back to normalcy. The unrest in the historical country over the past few weeks had hit container movement to Egypt, which is considered as an important trans-shipment hub for export to European and Mediterranean countries.

"Container movement is getting normal now. The ports in Egypt have started operations and trans-shipment activity is swiftly taking place," said a top official from Shipping Corporation of India, a public sector shipping company. Every week, SCI sends around 100 containers each for exports and imports to Egypt.

Egyptian ports are crucial for trans-shipment activities, hence bear immense importance for marine trade due to their key geographical position. Shipping liners from India unload their cargoes there for shipment to locations in Europe. This activity was badly affected due to the political turmoil in the transnational country. Cargoes containing denims, chemicals, stones from Rajasthan and engineering equipment were among the most affected, industry sources informed.

"Now, as the Egypt crisis is over, the container movement through Egyptian ports will improve. But there are other issues as well that continues to affect global shipping industry. Austrian floods are slowing down the shipping activity, while China, too, has stopped importing iron ore," said Param Desai, an analyst at Angel Trade.

Operations at key Egypt ports including Port Said, Dumyat and Alexandria Port had remained disrupted due to the anti-government protests in Egypt since January 25. The shipping liners from India had to stop calling these ports due to skeleton staff, tight fuel supplies and reduced financial activities at these Egyptian ports. The unrest forced many of the shipping liners to stop taking bookings of cargoes due to security threat at the port premises.

“No ship from our company is calling Egyptian ports due to the political turmoil. Ships are passing through the Suez Canal, but no commercial activity is being carried out at these ports. Ships do not stop at these ports to pick up or discharge the cargoes. The company can not export or import containers from Egypt," the SCI official had informed Business Standard earlier.

Another shipping major, Hapag-Llyod, a German ship liner having operations in India had also put its fleet to Egypt ports on hold. The company had stopped taking bookings for Egyptian ports during the unrest. “Though the army had cordoned off the port from outside, no cargo movement by trucks was allowed. The internet was also down, hence customs clearance was not happening. The agents were reachable over phone but they were not present at the ports. In such a situation, we had to stop booking during that troubled time," said a company official. The company's ships ply to Dumyat Port in Egypt.

Meanwhile, the industry insiders informed that only the containerised cargoes, requiring trans-shipment at Egyptian ports, were affected, while liquid and bulk cargo movement was normal through the Suez Canal even in the times of crisis. According to industry estimates about 20 per cent, $40 billion, of India's total exports are routed through the Suez Canal. This 120-mile stretch of waterway carries nearly nine per cent of global seaborne trade.