Marwa Elselehdar: 'I was blamed for blocking the Suez Canal'

[Nevilledog]

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Josh Cheetham
@joshcheetham
New: I spoke with Marwa Elselehdar - Egypt's first female ship's captain - who was falsely blamed for blocking the Suez Canal last month.

#1 most read on the BBC News website this morning 🥳

Happy Easter!
Marwa Elselehdar
Marwa Elselehdar: 'I was blamed for blocking the Suez Canal'
Egypt's pioneering ship captain has been targeted over false rumours about her role in the incident.
bbc.co.uk
1:17 AM · Apr 4, 2021

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56615521

Last month, Marwa Elselehdar noticed something strange.

News had broken about a huge container ship, the Ever Given, that had become wedged across the Suez Canal, bringing one of world's major shipping routes to a halt.

But as she checked her phone, online rumours were saying she was to blame.

"I was shocked," says Marwa, Egypt's first female ship's captain.

At the time of the Suez blockage, Ms Elselehdar was working as a first mate, in command of the Aida IV, hundreds of miles away in Alexandria.

The vessel, owned by Egypt's maritime safety authority, runs supply missions to a lighthouse in the Red Sea. It's also used to train cadets from the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT), a regional university run by the Arab League.

Rumours about Marwa Elselehdar's role on the Ever Given were largely spurred by screenshots of a fake news headline - supposedly published by Arab News - which said she was involved in the Suez incident.

*snip*

[JI7]

1. Shitty insecure men.

[Takket]

2. geez... the mysoginist fake news crowd doesn't miss a trick, do they?

Boat gets stuck... and the first thing they think is to blame a "first female captain" for it. dealing with these scumbags is absolutely exhausting.