Surprise at Suez

When Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser grabbed the Suez Canal 6 1/2 years ago, his bitter enemies in Europe predicted that the big ditch would soon be filled with silt and that untrained Egyptian pilots would never be able to steer shipping through safely.

The critics turned out to be wrong on both counts. Egypt has widened the canal with bypasses permitting three convoys daily to use the waterway more efficiently, and deepened it sufficiently to accommodate most of the world's tanker fleet. Last year 18.518 ships traveled through the canal, 370 more than in 1961. Further plans call for additional deepening of the canal, and making it two-way for its entire 102-mile length.

Former stockholders of the old Suez Canal Co. were firmly convinced in 1956 that they would never get a cent out of their nationalized investment. But with 1962 revenue at a whopping $149.5 million (45% above 1955), Nasser's canal officials have announced payment of the final $11.4 million installment on the $81.2 million compensation debt.

Responsible for the canal's success is its Egyptian boss, dynamic, balding Mahmoud Younis, 50, a onetime army engineer and a close friend of Nasser since the days when they shared an office at the Staff Officers College, Egypt's West Point. Though Younis had never sailed so much as a rowboat, Nasser picked him to run the busy waterway shortly after the British and French ship pilots withdrew from the canal in September 1956. At first, Younis had available only 26 trained pilots of the 250 normally required, but he kept the canal functioning around the clock. "I didn't know anything about ships." he said. "But I did know a lot about movement control from the army. Keeping the ships shuttling back and forth was a simple matter compared with organizing a battle."

Younis takes great pride in the performance of his Egyptian pilots. "They thought that only Europeans could run the canal, but they were wrong," he says. "I have no inferiority complexes. To me, management is a science that anyone can master." U.S. shippers are full of admiration for the efficient service they get in Younis' canal. To them, he shrugs, "In the U.S., you say the customer is always right. Well, that's what I say too. And you are my customers."

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