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Al-Ahram Weekly 29 July - 4 August 1999 Issue No. 440 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 29 July - 4 August 1999 Issue No. 440
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Travel Living Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters Suez Canal 'unchallenged'
By Amira IbrahimThe nationalisation of the Suez Canal removed the Anglo-French administration which had controlled it for nearly 90 years and put the strategic waterway firmly in Egyptian hands. The anniversary celebration, held at the authority's headquarters in Port Said, also saw the inauguration of a new bridge at the adjacent Al-Raswa and a number of new marine units.
Late President Gamal Abdel-Nasser announced the nationalisation of the Suez Canal Company on 26 July 1956 in his famous speech delivered at Al-Manshiya Square in Alexandria on the fourth anniversary of King Farouk's overthrow and expulsion from Egypt. "In the name of the nation, I announce the nationalisation of the international navigation company of the Suez Canal as an Egyptian company," he told he crowd. At that very moment, a number of Egyptian engineers and technicians occupied key positions in the company.
The take-over was successful and the canal continued its operations under Egyptian control without any delay despite certain Western countries' predictions to the contrary.
In an exclusive interview with Al-Ahram Weekly on board a marine unit, Admiral Ahmad Ali Fadel, the Suez Canal Authority board chairman, expressed his view that nationalisation of the canal was the right policy.
"The controversy over the nationalisation of the canal -- whether it was a good decision or not -- will continue until doomsday," said Fadel. "Yet, there is evidence that should be considered in coming to a judgment. As World War II came to an end, the British government was searching for a new role to guarantee and maintain the status of the weak 'British lion' against the growing stature of the US. On the other hand, the strong French colonial role in the region and the slow development of the canal indicated that there was no intention of giving back the canal at the scheduled date [1969], at least not peacefully, otherwise they would not have reacted in such a violent and aggressive way to the nationalisation," Fadel said, referring to the aggression by France, Britain and Israel against Egypt in 1956.
"The decision to nationalise the canal was the right decision by late President Abdel-Nasser. Had he waited for the concession to expire, we would have only got a destroyed canal. But the Egyptian management was able to control all the company's departments and thus avoid the predicted confusion and delays in the shipping traffic," Fadel said.
Ever since the canal came under Egyptian management, the transit operation has been developed. Operations to deepen and expand the channel are continuing. The maximum permissible draught of ships has been increased to 59 feet and is planned to reach 62 feet in the year 2000 and 72 feet by 2010. This would allow larger ships, including supertankers, to go through.
"Within the next decade, the Suez Canal will allow 90 per cent of giant oil tankers to pass through it," Fadel commented.
Yet development does not end with deepening and expansion operations. "We have a strategy to develop the canal, the equipment and employees. The authority at present contributes to building marine units and we already possess the largest pair of tugboats in the region which provide additional revenue," Fadel said.
For years, the Suez Canal Authority has been trying to establish a dock for ship repairs, an attempt which has recently borne fruit. "The authority, with the participation of North Europe Arsenals, has formed a giant company with an Egyptian-Danish administration which possesses a floating shipyard with a capacity of 55,000 tons. The company at present has a considerable number of contracts," Fadel said.
When asked whether the canal can stand competition against alternative routes, Fadel said: "I believe our ability to compete increases with the projects we carry out inside and around the canal. We carefully consider increases in commercial movement all over the world and so expect increases in marine transportation movement. The Suez Canal is a vital navigation tunnel with 140 years of use behind it. Any other alternative, whatever its capacity, cannot challenge ours and the coming phase will prove this," Fadel concluded.
