On Thursday, the latest and largest container ship in the world, EVER ART crossed the new Suez Canal as part of the convoy of the south.
Its journey is coming from Malaysia and headed for the port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Osama Rabie, head of the Suez Canal Authority, announced.
EVER ART follows the shipping line of Evergreen and is the sixth ship in a series of 12 giant ships under construction of the 24 A class. The ship weights 221,000 tons, and it can carry 24,132 containers on board.
Rabie said measures will be taken to ensure the safe transit of the tanker by appointing a group of senior authority guides, and providing navigational aids from accompanying locomotives.
In addition to immediate follow-up from the main traffic office and guidance stations along the channel.
EVER ART is the newest sister to the EVER ARM, EVER ACE, EVER ACT, EVER AIM and EVER ALP vessels, all of which crossed the Suez Canal several times before, indicating that the Suez Canal is the first and most efficient choice among global water channels, Rabie said.
Rabie stressed the Suez Canal was ready to receive the current and future generations of the fleet of container ships globally, referring in this regard to the navigational and technical advantages offered by the new Suez Canal as it raised the numerical and absorptive capacity of the canal as well as navigational safety, which had a great impact on enhancing its position to become the first destination and the ideal choice for transiting giant container ships working between the East and West.
The Suez Canal Authority takes into consideration the successive developments in the maritime transport industry, which is heading towards building giant ships with large submersibles.
The authority is working on the implementation of a project to develop the southern sector of the canal, which will contribute to increasing the navigational safety in that sector by 28 percent and increasing the discharge capacity by six new ships, Rabie said.
On Thursday, 83 ships crossed the Suez Canal, with a total net tonnage of 4.8 million tons.
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