(Image courtesy of Suez Canal Authority)
By Doaa Farid
Maersk McKinney Moller, the world’s largest container ship crossed the Suez Canal on Friday to continue its first voyage from the far East to Europe, according to state-owned Al-Ahram.
Mohab Mamish, the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) checked the 400-meter-long Danish Vessel ship’s workflow and praised the capacity of the waterway and its employees to receive such ships.
Maersk faced mechanical problems in February in the northern entrance to the canal due to a water leak in the engine room, putting the ship at the risk of sinking.
Mamish said on Friday the shipping lane exceeded its record for the amount of cargo sent through it in a single day, Associated Press reported.
He said 68 ships crossed the canal on Friday with a total load of 4.8m tons, which is the most ever to pass through the Suez Canal in a single day since it opened in 1869.
Traffic through the canal resumed after a short pause on Wednesday following a navigational accident with one of the small locomotives. The accident had no impact on maritime traffic and the canal is operating normally.
The canal is one of Egypt’s main sources of foreign revenue. Revenues hit $438.1m in May after 1,431 vessels crossed the waterway carrying a combined cargo of 79.7m tons.
