The Suez Canal is a blackspot for petty corruption involving
vessels transiting the waterway and MACN has been building its engagement with
SCA. The MoU aims to establish an official communication channel between the
Authority and MACN.
Admiral Osama Rabie, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority,
stressed that the Authority spares no effort to work on the stability and
sustainability of global supply chains to facilitate traffic in the Suez Canal
amid a package of effective measures that guarantee transparency and
impartiality, with the Authority’s readiness to provide all capabilities and
overcome all obstacles to activate cooperation with all partners and
organizations working in the field of maritime transport.
Cecilia Müller Torbrand, CEO of the Maritime Anti-Corruption
Network, thanked the Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority Admiral Osama Rabie,
and the Authority’s work team, stressing that the Suez Canal occupies a
special place in the maritime community, highlighting the need for
cooperation to promote effective and safe trade.
The memorandum was signed by the representative of the Suez
Canal Authority, Engineer Gamal Abu Al-Khair, Director of the Transit
Department.
The Suez Canal links east and west cutting out a lengthy
transit via the Cape of Good Hope and over 22,030 ships transited
through the canal during the fiscal year 2021-2022.
However, complaints over corruption by users of the waterway
are longstanding. In MACN’s report on its first 10 years of reporting between
2011 and 2020 the Suez Canal topped global risk hotspots. A total of 1,795
incidents were reported in the canal during the 10-year period. Most of the
incidents were petty corruption with 1,626 involving demands for cigarettes.
