Saturday 14/February/2026 – 01:39 PM
Lieutenant General Engineer Kamel Al-Wazir, Minister of Transport, witnessed the launch of the commercial trial operation of a container terminal. Long live Egypt 1“The port of Damietta received the giant container ship ESSEN EXPRESS, belonging to the international shipping line Hapag-Lloyd, coming from the port of Amberli, Turkey. It is 366.5 meters long, 48 meters wide, and has a draft of about 15.5 metres. Its carrying capacity reaches about 13,177 (TEU) and its total tonnage reaches about 143,262 tons.
Commercial trial run
This comes within the framework of the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Republic, to transform Egypt into a regional center for transport, logistics and transit trade, and the Ministry of Transport’s implementation of a comprehensive plan to develop the maritime transport sector and all Egyptian sea ports, including the port of Damietta, and maximize the benefit from Egypt’s distinguished geographical location and its competitive advantages to serve international trade and increase its share of transit trade.
This event was attended by Dr. Ayman Al-Shehabi, Governor of Damietta, Representative Waheed Qarqar, Chairman of the Transport and Communications Committee, members of the Transport and Communications Committee in the House of Representatives, representatives of the House of Representatives and the Senate in Damietta Governorate, Rear Admiral Dr. Nihad Shaheen, Deputy Minister of Transport for Maritime Transport, heads of the maritime transport sector and seaport authorities, leaders of the Damietta Port Authority, Tom Eckelman, CEO of Eurojet Group, and Juan Pablo Richards, Director of the Southern Europe Region. The leaders of the global operating alliance are the Damietta Alliance for Container Terminals, which includes the largest leading international companies in operating container terminals and shipping lines (German Eurojet, Italian Conship, and the international shipping line Hapag-Lloyd), in addition to the presence of a number of commercial attachés from a number of European countries in Egypt, representatives of major international shipping lines, and leaders of the Ministry of Transport and the shipping community.
The Minister and the accompanying delegation inspected the “Long Live Misr 1” station, and saw the mechanism of its work in managing and operating the dock cranes, which number 12 giant dock cranes (STS), which are considered one of the most modern giant dock cranes in the world produced by the Chinese company HHMC, and capable of dealing with giant container ships with large loads, as they are characterized by lifting capacities of up to 75 tons, and an operational height of 57.5 meters from the dock surface, with an outer boom length of up to 72 meters. These cranes are also equipped with the latest safety systems, sensors and cameras, as well as their full integration with smart port management systems, allowing operations to be monitored in real time and achieving the highest rates of efficiency and accuracy. This contributes to accelerating loading and unloading rates and raising the efficiency of the container handling cycle within the terminal, in addition to 40 automatic yard cranes (RTG) that operate with advanced smart systems to determine the locations of containers and stack them with high accuracy within the storage yards.
The “Long Live Misr 1” container terminal is one of the most important major national projects implemented within the port of Damietta, with a total length of berths of about 1,970 meters and depths of up to 18 metres, with a back yard of approximately 922 thousand square meters, and an annual handling capacity of about 3.5 million equivalent containers, which enhances the port’s capacity and raises its operational efficiency and its ability to receive giant container ships.
The arrival of 40 electric yard cranes (RTG) dedicated to the container handling service in the station’s yards has also been completed, which is considered one of the latest environmentally friendly cranes, as part of the Ministry of Transport’s direction to use sustainable equipment and operating methods that contribute to reducing carbon emissions, in line with Egypt’s vision for sustainable development 2030.
The Minister stressed during the opening activities that today is an important day for the Egyptian maritime transport sector, as the commercial trial operation of the station is an important strategic event that embodies the continuous development and modernization efforts undertaken by the Ministry of Transport to maximize the benefit of seaports and transform them into pivotal centers for global trade and logistical services in accordance with the directives of the political leadership to transform Egypt into a regional center for transport, logistics and transit trade. It also represents the culmination of an integrated path of planning and implementation, with the completion of the technical and operational equipment necessary to start commercial operation, and the arrival of the station’s equipment in full, ensuring the provision of Port services according to the highest international standards, and confirms the full readiness of the terminal to provide its services within Damietta Port.
He added that the start of the commercial trial operation of the “Long Live Misr 1” station represents a pivotal step within a comprehensive plan to develop Damietta Port and maximize its role in serving foreign trade movement, supporting global supply chains, and consolidating its position as a pivotal port on the Mediterranean Sea. In addition to its coincidence with the reception of the container ship ESSEN EXPRESS, which reflects the terminal’s entry into the phase of regular actual operation and the start of providing its commercial services on the ground, within the framework of a successful international partnership that brings together the Egyptian state and a global alliance that has extensive operational experience in the world’s major ports. The presence of a number of European commercial attachés and representatives of major shipping lines also reflects the amount of international interest in the project, and the growing confidence in the investment climate in Egyptian ports, in conjunction with the unprecedented boom it is witnessing at the level of infrastructure and institutional development. Pointing out that this project is being implemented within the Ministry of Transport’s plan to attract the largest international companies operating shipping lines to invest in Egyptian ports, as well as within the framework of implementing the integrated development logistics corridor (Tanta – Mansoura – Damietta).
