Shipping lines alliance to return to East Port Said? An alliance of five shipping lines that had ceased East Port Said operations earlier this year to protest a hike in fees have agreed to return to the port, Suez Canal Authority chief Mohab Mamish said yesterday, Al Mal reports. The latest round of negotiations proved fruitful, said Mamish, who had been in Germany with Transport Minister Hisham Arafat over the last two days for talks with Hapag-Lloyd, K Line, Yang Ming Marine Transport, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, and the NYK Group. It’s unclear how the officials managed to sway the alliance, which had announced in May that its return to the port was contingent on the government backtracking on the hike. Mamish said executives from the five companies reassured him that they have come to understand the need for the increase and the fact that it is offset by a number of incentives and discounts the authority extends to shipping lines.

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