Suez Canal Authority inks MoU with Maritime Anti-Corruption Network

The Suez Canal Authority SCA and the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network MACN have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to provide a framework for cooperation.

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.

Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, Admiral Osama Rabie, 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.

CEO of the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network, Cecilia Müller Torbrand, 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.