Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Suez Canal Unaffected By Egypt's Unrest

An aerial port bow view of the aircraft carrier USS AMERICA (CV 66) during its transit through the canal. 5 May 1981. Wikipedia

Suez Canal Traffic Unaffected By Egypt Unrest: Maritime Officials -- Ahram Online

Despite ongoing clashes in Port Said and Suez, traffic through Egypt's strategic Suez Canal has not been impacted, canal officials report.

Maritime traffic through Egypt's Suez Canal has not been disrupted by recent violence in the canal cities of Port Said and Suez. Fears had been raised over the possible halt of canal traffic after a Greek ferry boat came under fire on Saturday near Port Said.

The Egyptian transportation ministry and the president of the Port Said Port Authority had earlier denied reports that a Greek ship had been attacked by a group of armed assailants after the port was stormed by anti-government protestors. The Greek embassy in Cairo, however, appeared to verify the attack in a Sunday press statement.

Read more ....

Update #1: Suez Canal official: Navigation unaffected by violence -- Egypt Independent
Update #2: Egypt: Mamish - Suez Canal Is Totally Secured -- allAfrica.com

My Comment: Since the start of the revolution, the Suez Canal has become the government's lifeline to still have some money to pay the bills. But if the unrest starts to impact and interfere with the traffic on the canal .... expect everything to "go down south" very quickly in Egypt.

Update: How Safe Is the Suez Canal? -- Bloomberg Businessweek

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