Egypt has recently signed a contract with China to build two new ships, one of which is the latest clean dry bulk ship, in order to increase the number of ships in its fleet. The goal is to reach 31 ships by 2030. The Minister of Transport, Lieutenant General Engineer Kamel Al-Wazir, oversaw the signing of the contract between the National Shipping Company, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Transport, and the Chinese shipyard “Hantung.”
Mohamed Suleiman, Managing Director of the National Shipping Company, and Ming Xingjun, Chairman of Hantong, signed the contract. One ship will have a tonnage of 82 thousand tons, length of 229 meters, width of 32.26 meters, and draft of 14.5 meters. Both ships will be built in compliance with the latest environmental requirements and are expected for delivery in 2026.
Hantung is a renowned shipyard that specializes in building clean dry bulk ships with a track record of constructing 148 ships including 49 currently under construction totaling 12.6 million tons. The minister highlighted that this development represents a significant advancement in restoring Egypt’s maritime transport fleet strength.
With the addition of these two new ships, Egypt’s fleet capacity will exceed one million tons annually and improve its ability to transport strategic goods such as wheat to Egypt. Over 40% renewal within just three years signifies an impressive achievement for Egyptian maritime transport sector.