Unrest Affects Egypt Ports; Suez Remains Open

Egyptian ports were closed or operating at sharply reduced capacity amid a seventh day of anti-government protests Monday, but the Suez Canal remained open for transits.

A.P. Moller-Maersk said its terminal Port Said, at the Mediterranean end of the canal, was closed but was expected to reopen at 8 a.m. Tuesday. The ports of Alexandria and Damietta were working at “a much reduced productivity,” said Maersk spokeswoman Mary Ann Kotlarich.

“Containers are starting to fill up in the Egyptian container yards as there are no imports being picked up, and no exports loaded out. It is under evaluation whether export bookings via Egyptian ports need to be restrained,” Kotlarich said.

Egypt Protest news from JOC:
Egypt Protests Raise Suez Canal Concerns

She said the Egyptian government had ordered a daily nationwide curfew from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. but that Suez Canal pilots are exempt from the curfew and that the canal remains open for transits under close army supervision.

Kotlarich said Maersk Line, Safmarine and Damco offices in Egypt were closed but that all of the companies’ employees in the country have been accounted for.

Maersk and Safmarine average four to five daily Suez transits. The A.P. Moller-Maersk Group has about 7,000 employees in Egypt working at Maersk Line, Safmarine, Damco, APM Terminals’ Suez Canal Container Terminal at Port Said, and the Egyptian Drilling Co., a 50-50 joint venture with Egyptian General Petroleum.

-- Contact Joseph Bonney at jbonney@joc.com.