Suez Canal Authority spokesperson Tareq Hassanein said Saturday that the canal is safe for navigation and that traffic continues as normal, after earlier news reports said that protesters in Port Said were blocking ferries from the city's harbor.
In press releases Saturday, Hassanein said that the canal is an international facility open to all ships, and said that it has remained untouched by political events in the country.
Hassanein added that the canal authority is still abiding by all international agreements regulating ship traffic.
Addressing the stoppage of ferries, Hassanein said that the protesters’ actions didn’t affect canal traffic, and added that 41 vessels had passed through the canal carrying 2,300,000 tons Saturday, including 18 vessels that passed through Port Said harbor.
Security forces were eventually able to convince protesters to let ferries resume in the city’s harbor.
