Egypt, after shutting down seven of its ports due to bad weather conditions, it reopened five out of seven ports on January 17. As stated by Reuters, the bad weather conditions improved and the wind stabilized as announced by the Red Sea Ports Authority.
Specifically, Cairo and many Egyptian cities were affected by a severe sandstorm which resulted to the closing of the ports for safety.
As Reda Ghandour, a spokesman for the Alexandria Port Authority quoted at Reuters, the ports of Alexandria and Dekhelia on the Mediterranean in the Alexandria governorate, that were closed from January 6, reopened at 13.30 local time.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
In addition, the spokesman added that the decision on opening the ports was taken after assessing the situation and acknowledging that the wind speed, wave height and visibility had returned to normal levels, allowing ships to enter or exit the ports safely.
Moreover, both ports of Suez and Zeitiyat in the Suez governorate, reopened at 07.00 local time and the Sharm al-Sheikh port in the South Sinai reopened at 08.00.
Concluding, Ayman Saleh, head of the Red Sea Ports Authority, highlighted that the ports should be in constant contact with the Egyptian Meteorological Authority to make sure of the safe maritime navigation.
