A small boat sails in front of a container ship in the Suez Canal in the northeastern Egyptian city of Ismailiya, on May 27, 2021. SCA chairman Osama Rabie, in a televised interview on Sunday, hailed the deal. He said Egypt would also receive a 75-tonne tugboat from Shoei Kisen Kaisha as part of the compensation package, and noted that the family of one rescue worker who died during the salvage operation would also be compensated. "The Suez canal has always been a site of sacrifices since it was built," he said.The Suez Canal earned Egypt just over $5.7 billion in the 2019/20 fiscal year, according to official figures- little changed from the $5.3 billion earned back in 2014.Even with the grounding of the ship, Rabie said Sunday that canal revenues in the first half of the year had topped $3 billion. Sisi had overseen the $8 billion expansion of a northern section of the canal to much fanfare in 2014-15.

Source: Manila Times July 07, 2021 02:37 UTC