Egypt transfers two maritime companies to Suez Canal Authority ownership
Placing these companies under SCA jurisdiction consolidates functions that directly affect transit operations.
EGYPT – Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has issued a decree transferring full ownership of Canal Mooring and Lights Company and Port Said Engineering Works & Naval Constructions Company from the Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport to the Suez Canal Authority, as reported by the Official Gazette.
Under the decree, both companies will be subject to the law governing joint-stock companies, partnerships limited by shares, limited liability companies and single-person companies.
Asset reorganization and operational relevance
The transfer places mooring, lighting, engineering and naval construction assets directly under the canal administration.
CML provides mooring and lighting services to vessels transiting the waterway, while PSEWNC undertakes engineering works and naval construction, both of which support canal maintenance and marine unit fabrication.
Placing these companies under SCA jurisdiction consolidates functions that directly affect transit operations.
Mooring and lighting services are integral to safe vessel movement through the canal, and their management by the canal authority, rather than by a separate transport holding company, reduces the number of coordination layers between the operator and the service provider.
Governance and regulatory implications
Subjecting both companies to the joint-stock and limited liability framework changes their governance compared with the public sector structure under the Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport.
That framework typically imposes requirements on financial reporting, board composition and audit, while allowing greater commercial flexibility in contracting and pricing than entities operating under public sector rules.
For the SCA, the transfer consolidates maritime support services within its existing portfolio, which includes shipyards and specialized companies involved in industrial and maritime activities.
The authority has pursued expansion of these capabilities, including through its Maritime Training and Simulation Academy and cooperation with international operators.
Moreover, the decree forms part of broader state asset reorganization in Egypt’s maritime sector.
In 2026, the government approved a 30-year licence for a logistics zone at Salloum and established the Sadat Dry and Land Port Company.
It oversaw the expansion of the Suez Canal Economic Zone, which ranked first in Africa and seventh globally in fDi Intelligence’s 2026 Global Free Zones of the Year Awards.
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