As soon as the crisis of the delinquent ship in the Suez Canal eased, the Egyptian government began to face another challenge, which is the management of the 422 ships waiting in the Mediterranean and Red Bahrain, which gathered over the seven days when navigation in the canal stopped.
After the engineers, locomotives and dredger workers made a great effort for several days to reposition the delinquent vessel "Evergiven" on its right track, the ship pilots picked up the line of work to begin in their turn to solve the final part of the crisis that disrupted shipping and international trade.
Officials of the Egyptian government confirmed the ability of the guides in the Suez Canal Authority (the governmental body in charge of managing the canal) to overcome the overcrowding crisis of waiting ships in a period of less than 4 days.
This role, which was recently placed on the guides' shoulders, brings back to mind the historical work they performed during the nationalization of the Suez Canal some 65 years ago, as they succeeded in tearing a pressure card that England tried to play to stop the movement of ships in the shipping lane.
The ship "Ever Givin" ran aground while crossing the Suez Canal, last Tuesday, which led to the suspension of navigation traffic in the Suez Canal, through which about 12% of the total world trade passes.
Who is the guide?
Suez Canal Authority guides are a group of experts in ship leadership who guide any ship passing through the canal to ensure that it sails in the correct path within the shipping lane that extends for 193 kilometers, and according to official statistics, there are 300 pilots.
When the ship approaches the entrance to the canal, the guide moves to its back and works with its crew from inside the ship's control room. It leads to millions of dollars in losses.
According to Captain Nader Naji, one of the canal guides, the boat is primarily the responsibility of the captain, but in narrow areas the role and leadership is for the guide, because his experiences with it are better as he uses appropriate insurance methods. Recipe.
In previous press statements, Naji explained that the daily work time of the guides extends from 8 to 10 hours, adding that on the days of crowded ships, the pilot may rest for only 3 hours and then return to complete his work.
The Suez Canal Authority receives applicants to work as a naval guide, graduates of the Arab Academy for Maritime Transport - based in Alexandria and affiliated with the League of Arab States - as well as those who have finished their service in the Egyptian army’s navy.
The work of any guide in the Suez Canal Authority requires obtaining a certificate of captain of the high seas in addition to experience of not less than 5 years.
The promotions in the guiding profession are related to the tonnage of the ships they drive, for example the new guide starts working with ships whose tonnage does not exceed 20 thousand tons, and with the gain of experience and receiving training courses the load becomes larger, and the guides are divided in their ranks into a guide, a master guide, an excellent guide and a senior guide, and the promotion is made every 4 years.
The guides wear a special uniform, which is a white shirt engraved with the emblem of the Suez Canal Authority, and black trousers, and the belt and shoes are also black, as well as a special hat.
Historical role
The mention of Suez Canal guides is linked to the anniversary of the nationalization of the shipping lane in 1965, to become an Egyptian joint stock company after it was under the control of England, the former occupation power of Egypt, according to concession rights.
With the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser announcing the nationalization decision, London used the foreign guides card to put pressure on the Egyptian authority, as it withdrew them from their sites in the canal on the night of the fourteenth of September 1956 in order to disrupt the navigation movement.
And England at the time believed that the Egyptians would not be able to operate the canal after the withdrawal of foreign workers, as only 52 of the 207 instructors remained from the extension apparatus.
The Egyptian government resorted to pushing new elements from the Egyptian Navy and hired new foreign guides, and they all continued to work throughout the day and succeeded in managing all ships, which prompted Nasser at that time to award them the Order of Merit.
In recognition of the role of the guides in completing the success of the nationalization process of the Suez Canal, the Suez Canal Authority celebrates the 14th and 15th of September of each year.
Efficiency and continuous work
The Suez Canal guides are trying with all their energies to deal with the accumulation of ships waiting in the Red Sea as well as the Mediterranean, according to what official officials have confirmed.
For his part, the chief guide of the Suez Canal Authority, Captain Mohamed Rushdie, said that convoys of ships will be designed in a way that achieves the largest daily transit rate for ships, perhaps in the history of the Suez Canal, and if it requires 3 ships per day for each guide.
He added - in press statements - that all the guides participate in the running of the ships, including the sick, stressing that "the sick guides have been discharged from hospitals to participate in the process of passing the ships, and I am not exaggerating in what I say."
In the same context, the head of the Suez Canal Authority, Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, stated during a press conference that the number of guides for ships inside the canal is very sufficient, stressing that the work will continue 24 hours until the crisis of the accumulation of ships in the shipping lane ends.