MACN Canvasses  Collaboration With Suez Canal Authority

The Maritime Anti-Corruption Network

(MACN) is aiming to build collaboration and cooperation with Suez Canal Authority (SCA).

MACN CEO, Cecilia Müller Torbrand met with Suez Canal Authority and Chairman and Managing Director, Adm Ossama Rabiee, at the authority’s headquarters recently.

Discussions covered industry collaboration, capacity building, and potential areas of cooperation between the two organisations.

“I would like to thank the Suez Canal Authority and Chairman and Managing Director, Admiral Ossama Rabiee, for their hospitality and the opportunity to discuss MACN’s mission and global engagement,” Torbrand said.

“The Suez Canal Authority plays a vital part in world maritime trade. This visit was an important step to building a long-standing collaboration and we greatly appreciate the support from the executive leadership of the Suez Canal Authority.”

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.

The SCA and MACN plan to establish close dialogue on concrete challenges, review material, and further discussions on private and public capacity building.